“I didn’t want to be transgender.”
The words resonated through Highland Coffees one Thursday 
afternoon as nursing alumnus Logan Mumphrey, 24, discussed the struggles he faced with accepting his 
gender identity.
“It took so many years for me to accept myself,” he said. “But I’m coming to terms with my life and moving forward with what makes me happy.”
Mumphrey, along with an estimated two to five percent of the population, identifies as transgender, or a person whose gender identity or expression is different from that traditionally associated with an assigned sex at birth, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality. It is important to disassociate gender and sex in order to understand, because they are two separate entities.
Mumphrey always knew that he was male. He joked about how his mother always recorded Oprah 
specials on gender and that she would say, “You haven’t been a girl a day in your life.”
Without a way to express his gender identity in high school, he labeled himself as a lesbian, even though he knew the label didn’t fit. However, as a freshman in college, Mumphrey befriended someone in the process of transitioning from male to female who helped him understand what it meant to be transgender.
“Being friends with him opened that door for me,” Mumphrey said.
Mumphrey started binding, the process of flattening breasts with constrictive materials under clothes. It took him years to become comfortable with being male in public, a struggle that he still deals with today, but he began living his life openly as a man for the last two years. Although he hasn’t physically transitioned, Mumphrey legally changed his name.
While he expressed interest in hormone treatments and top surgery to remove his breasts, the process is costly and time consuming. Additionally, most insurance policies do not cover these “elective” procedures. The traditional method takes three months of counseling, followed by an official diagnosis of gender identity disorder and a written letter stating the patient has taken steps to socially transition themselves into their gender identity. Many places in the country shy away from this method and use a more informed consent model, which allows for gender identity to no longer be designated and for patients to have more freedom in their decision to transition, according to Mumphrey.
Lastly, there are treatments with an endocrinologist, a doctor who specializes in the endocrine system and hormones, and surgical procedures. Recently, Mumphrey made an appointment with an endocrinologist to begin the process.
Even though he is excited to move forward, Mumphrey, who works in the medical field, fears that the transition could negatively affect his work atmosphere, since he isn’t openly a man in his work environment yet.
“I don’t want to make my life harder,” he said. “I don’t think they would terminate me, but I do think there would be a level of harassment and misunderstanding.”
This fear is all too common in parts of the country without discrimination laws.
Micah Caswell, LGBT project and Safe Space Campaign graduate 
coordinator, said Louisiana doesn’t have a non-discrimination policy, nor does the city of Baton Rouge protect the LGBT community against harassment.
“All LGBT people are discriminated against, but transgender people are even more susceptible to it,” Caswell 
added.
The proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a bill designed by the federal government to provide basic protections against discrimination, would ensure fair practices regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity if adopted by Louisiana.
Even with the prevalent harassment, Caswell believes things have improved, especially on campus. LSU has an inclusive policy that protects against discrimination based on gender identity and sexuality. Caswell also noted that organizations on campus, such as Spectrum and the Student Equality Project, are completely inclusive.
“No one shies away from including everyone. I think it is a testament to the changes that have occurred because I don’t think it would have been like that even eight years ago,” Caswell said.
Likewise, LSU has taken strides to be inclusive by creating some gender-neutral bathrooms in certain buildings on campus and starting safe-space campaigns. With that said, Caswell believes there is room for the University to improve.
When it comes to changing names of transgender 
students on diplomas, myLSU accounts, etc., the process is complicated. He said it is a difficult process for students to choose their preferred name, and it can be emotionally damaging for some students.
For Baton Rouge Community College transfer student Dylan Waguespack, 21, the climate in the Red Stick has been a supportive one. There is a tight-knit community of open-minded people working together for the same thing, he said.
Waguespack believes that this environment was instrumental in his transition into living openly as a man.
“I found comfort in everyone. It made me realize that I could do it, too. I could face these issues, and it is safe for me to do so,” he said.
Waguespack, a New Orleans native, struggled with his gender identity since he was 12.
“I always thought of myself as a tomboy. I was the one who always played soccer with the boys at school. I knew there was more to it, but it was a confusing time for me,” he said. “I couldn’t handle conforming to my assigned gender role, but it wasn’t until I came to college that I conceptualized the idea of being transgender.”
The people he met in Baton Rouge bridged the gap for him to start identifying himself as Dylan. Waguespack realizes that the South stigmatizes certain lifestyles, but he stressed he has never felt unsafe.
Despite the improving environment for the LGBT 
community, he said there are things that need to change.
“There is a lack of understanding and education,” he said. “People need to have a conversation amongst each other so we can better understand.”
Waguespack said he would like to see changes in the realm of housing, education and employment discrimination, partner benefits and adoption. An end to the “crimes against nature law” would be another victory, he added. Although the law is unconstitutional, an East Baton Rouge sheriff arrested a homosexual man for sodomy on July 18 in Baton Rouge.
There is a fear attached to being openly transgender, Mumphrey said.
“The visibility of being transgender scares me, especially receiving backlash and repercussions from it. I’m afraid to be read as male or female, and how that will affect my life,” Mumphrey added.
“In some ways, I am still living a double life. I just need to come to terms with it and move forward. Acceptance is important.”
All things considered, Mumphrey agrees that Louisiana is changing for the better.
“The culture is changing, people are becoming more understanding,” Mumphrey said with a reassuring smile, “and I am glad to be on the forefront of that change.”