Logan Ware publicly came out as transgender in 2016, but is already inspiring others to follow in his footsteps.
He’s always known he was a boy and was even saying it when he was four years old.
‘I used to refuse to put on anything I saw as feminine,’ he told Gay Star News. ‘When I was young, my sister used to draw a beard on my face. I’d be in just my underpants and run around the house screaming,’ he joked.
Logan went to his doctor in 2016 and was referred to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
It was in a CAMHS meeting with his mom and dad that he officially came out to them.
Their response? ‘We expected that,’ Logan jokingly recalls.
Through CAMHS, Logan began working with organizations like the Tavistock Institute and Action for Children.
It’s through this counselling that Logan met Sarah Winshull, family support practitioner with Action for Children.
‘When I first met Logan, he was shy,’ Sarah said. ‘He avoided eye contact and he let his mom do a lot of the talking.’
Logan Ware. | Photo: supplied
Through weekly sessions, Sarah identified Logan’s strong passion for animals. In fact, he’s got 20 at home and can name them all with confidence.
‘Because animals are a huge passion of his, we got funding for horse riding lessons,’ Sarah said. ‘We also did visits to weird farms.
‘It’s been a really varied and fun, bespoke package of support,’ she said.
Action for Children also identified practical areas of support, including changing Logan’s name, help with public transport and fostering healthy relationships.
‘Logan’s got a real gift with talking to people’
Over time, Logan opened up more and more. Sarah said: ‘Logan’s gone from being incredibly introverted and socially avoidant to a really open, fun, inspirational person.’
Then something remarkable happened.
Sarah works with another young trans person, who was too scared to leave her house for over six months. Over a series of weeks, Sarah tried to get her out of the house, with not much luck at all.
But then she had an idea.
She took Logan with her and the two young trans teens got along amazingly.
Logan explains: ‘Within four days after meeting her, she came over to my house. And then a week after that, we went into town.’
Sarah joked: ‘He’s a miracle worker!
‘Logan was able to go in and he had her laughing. He’s got a real gift in getting in and talking to people on their level.
‘He wanted to get involved and help young trans people in the area,’ she said.
As a result of his amazing progress, Action for Children appointed Logan a Young Ambassador. This means he leads on focus groups and also manned the first ever Action for Children stall at Worcester Pride.
Sarah believes his progress is astounding: ‘The whole team looks to him now on how to develop programs for trans people in the area.
‘We also need to involve more young people in the conversations we have so it’ll be more meaningful,’ she said.
What’s next?
Sarah beams with pride as she says: ‘I want to give a massive high-five to Logan for the journey that he’s come on, how far he’s come and also how much he’s used his challenges to support other young people.
‘It’s been amazing to watch and he’s quite inspirational,’ she said.
Sarah Minshull. | Photo: supplied
As for what’s next, Logan wants to be a zookeeper: ‘That’s the dream,’ he said. He’s certainly got enough experience with his six guinea pigs, two rats, two gerbils, four mice, a bearded dragon, a snake, two dogs and two cats.
He also just started college this week (21 November) and is excited to keep helping young trans people.
Sarah said: ‘People like Logan are so rare that when they come along, it kind of validates exactly why we do what we do.’
‘It’s been lovely to watch him come out of himself and realize his potential,’ she also said.
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Action for Children is a sponsor of Gay Star News.
