Welch and Boyd joke around about Jay being transgendered, but there is also a lot of pain.

"I hate binding, and I just hate being in this body. I think that's going to be the hardest change for me to deal with, the physical change of the body as far as going from a female to a male."

"I hate binding, and I just hate being in this body," he reveals. Boyd turns away and looks saddened by Welch's statement.

"I think that's going to be the hardest change for me to deal with, the physical change of the body as far as going from a female to a male," Boyd admits quietly.

Welch is still biologically female but plans on changing that gradually over the next few years. The process will begin with another diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder, which makes it possible for doctors to prescribe hormones, he says. After Welch receives a diagnosis and goes through a mandatory three months of preparatory therapy, he will begin taking testosterone. During this time, he will also legally change his name from Kyana Nicole to James Nicholas.

After hormonal therapy, he will start physically reconstructing his body. He plans to complete the upper-body reconstructive surgery first and then the sex-reassignment surgery. He and Amanda are still undecided about which lower-body procedure to choose.

There are two female-to-male reconstructive surgeries they are debating over. One is called a phalloplasty and involves taking skin from the stomach and wrapping it around the clitoris. The second procedure, called radial arm surgery, is when skin and nerves are removed from the forearm and used to construct a phallus.

Before the surgery, Welch wants to tell his parents he is transgendered, something he still hasn't found the right time for. He knows it will be hard on them.

"I'm their little girl–sort of," he says.

Welch also says that coming out as trans to his black community will be an obstacle.

"Being in a black family, it's kind of difficult to be gay or to be anything; It's so taboo," he explains. "I'm frustrated because my people, we just need to be educated. I mean, it's going to be really hard to come out to my black friends. I just want to educate the community of color about transgendered issues and transgendered people."

Welch says he sees a need for a group for transgendered people at Kent State. He says he hasn't met another transgendered person he can hang out with, and that the LGBT clubs don't offer enough support.

"We need to group together," Welch says. "I'm just angry because I feel like I'm the only one.

"Let us Female to Males of color just come out."

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