Taylor and Morgan

Taylor: he, him, his

Morgan: she, her, hers, they, them, their

Where are you originally from?

Morgan: I am from Crystal Lake, Illinois originally. It is the northwest suburbs of Chicago and it is definitely suburbia.

Taylor: I am originally from Fishers, IN.

What brought you to Noblesville? What is your profession?

Morgan: I am very much so in a transitional phase where I work at Starbucks now and I am going to be going back to school for Political Science and Anthropology. But, what brought me here is essentially being able to live with my parents and save up money. Longterm, I wouldn’t see myself staying in Noblesville.

Taylor: Well, my parents live in Cicero and we moved there when I was in 5th grade. They still live there and I am living with them at the moment. I am working at a long-term care pharmacy. I have worked there since I was 16. I am pretty much working there until police academy starts.

What do you label your sexuality or how do you identify yourself with the LGBTQ community?

Morgan: I use queer. I like the queer umbrella. It makes me much more comfortable.

Taylor: I would say mostly straight, but I don’t think anybody is 100% either way.

Morgan, approaching your situation and your relationship have you dated anyone transgender before?

Morgan: I have dated people who were on their way to their journey. They later realized they were trans. Some of those really hard questions were faced during the relationship but never directly transferred to the person in that time.

Taylor: I mean you got funny looks when people here (Starbucks) found out you had a boyfriend.

Morgan (continued): They just assume I am a lesbian because I have dated girls historically. But, I have definitely gotten questions about it. More specifically people curious want to know more about his body and surgeries and obviously very taboo questions. He doesn’t get offended by it. I'm the one who gets more hurt about the situation than he does.

Do you find that Indiana is an inclusive environment for the LGBTQ community?

Taylor: I think it has its moments and also its areas, but there are obviously still places that it's not or that I don't feel safe walking around in certain areas. But, since I've been on testosterone for about 6 months I pass a lot better. So, I feel a bit safer I guess. But, there are still places that I am like "I don’t think I'm going to go there," or "I'm not going to bring up this situation around this group of people."

Morgan: I think since living here for a year, it is very obviously Republican. Which can be tough but, I haven't had direct qualms. Though I am not somebody that looks very queer or gay to someone who has no idea so I feel as though I can exist without much hate directly.

Taylor (continued): *Directed towards Morgan* Wait, you're queer?

Taylor, talking about testosterone, have you seen that journey supported or difficult?

Taylor: For anybody that knows about it I have just gotten support. Granted, I have not talked to my dad's side of the family very much at all about it. Although a lot of them follow me on some sort of social media. My voice is way different and many of them haven't seen them since the journey started so it should be interesting to see how they react when I do see them.

How did the area you grow up shape you in regards to your sexuality? (Would you say your environment made you more open or more closed off in regards to your sexuality?)

Morgan: I saw 0 representation growing up. It was a very straight laced, non-diverse town even with ethnicities let alone sexuality. I had no idea. I had All assumed all queer women looked butch but I was like "I don't see myself like that." Once I got to college, I really saw my sexuality coming out. But, I went to school in central Illinois and just because it was a college town I saw a lot more representation.

Taylor: I think it maybe shaped me in the opposite way that it would have been thought to shape me. My town where I actually grew up, Cicero, was very small and my graduating high school class of maybe 150 people had 2-5 people that were not white. 10 or less that identified as some form of queer. I knew what the words were for how I felt but I had to basically teach my parents and had to show them how to support the queer community in general. Purdue was where I started to learn more about different gender identities. But, I spent the majority of my time in Cicero knowing that I liked women and not boys. My entire school knew that I was gay before my parents did. It was nothing I was hiding or worrying about, I just dated who I liked.

What is your biggest fear about being queer in Indiana?

Morgan: Honestly, I have a lot of privilege with my queerness. That is something I would like to keep in check so that I don’t have to constantly live in fear.

Taylor: There are a lot of rich white people but, they also aren't quite as conservative here in this area compared to other areas of Indiana. Right now, with Trump and all of trans issues being in limbo, that scares me a little bit. If I'm out somewhere, I'll choose which bathroom to use but sometimes I am like I am not using the men's restroom at this place either because I don't feel comfortable, I don’t feel familiar with the place as much, or there aren't closed door stalls. That is kind of my main fear having to deal with every day.

Do you see Indiana as your forever home?

Morgan: Particularly the Noblesville area, no. I've always wanted to do the stereotypical pacific northwest life. But, right now it is definitely home since we are dating. I know that he is going to establish roots here and I have no problems with that.

Taylor: I always say that I can be a cop anywhere but I have grown so attached to the IMPD. They are so welcoming and supportive it would be hard for me to move. I've never had the need to get out of Indiana like most people do but I am also not opposed to it.

Where do you feel you are most accepted in Indiana?

Morgan and Taylor: Metro, *laughs* downtown in general – outside of our own home, we would say downtown for sure. There are specific areas that are just very open and welcoming (Broadripple, Mass Ave, Fountain Square). Not even specifically just the gay bars, everyone in that area are just so accepting. Rainbow flags everywhere, it's great.