Transgender Woman Reveals She Served As A Navy SEAL For 20 Years

[xchrom]

http://www.businessinsider.com/transgendered-woman-served-a-navy-seal-2013-6



A retired Navy SEAL is poised to blow the doors off the military’s policy on transgender people.

Kristen Beck was a member of the most elite special operations unit in the world — SEAL Team 6. She deployed 13 times. She earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. She served in the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden.

Shortly before the bin Laden raid, in early 2011, she retired as a senior chief petty officer after serving 20 years.

Her name was Chris Beck back then. In a memoir that promises to change the way we think about transgender people and their service in the military, Beck, who is active on Twitter, writes about how she came to the realization that she was meant to live life as a woman.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/transgendered-woman-served-a-navy-seal-2013-6#ixzz2VF6YDPzd

[riverwalker]

1. fascinating

[a kennedy]

2. OMGosh, this is so awesome.....like someone always said.....women just do it better....

Like Ginger Rogers dances in heals AND BACKWARDS!!!

[underpants]

10. I saw this today at work and thought - heads must be exploding in Freeperville

not surprised to see that they are

[JI7]

3. good for her, anyone who attacks her does not support the troops and veterans

[JI7]

4. check out this freeper, not the worst of them but probably what many americans

think or view gender, sex etc. people like this navy seal wont convince the outright hateful bigots. but maybe it will get some people thinking about things like gender roles. how much of it is based on expectations with how people are raised.



"I just don’t get it. If a man feels like he’s a female in a man’s body, why would s/he sign up for a job that the toughest, most masculine men do? Granted, not everyone wants to be a hairdresser or a ballet dancer, but there are plenty of jobs where s/he could express more feminine aspects of himself. It’s too weird for me.

59 posted on Monday, June 03, 2013 10:06:20 PM by KittyKares (.) "

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3026928/posts?page=53

[Initech]

11. That's actually pretty tame for Free Republic.

I've seen way more disgusting, demeaning, and bigoted comments on MSN and Yahoo today than that. Not that I'm justifying this one.

[JI7]

12. that's why i posted it, it probably represents the stereotype or prejudice of many others who may

not be bigoted. some of these people could be convinced to see things different because of people like this navy seal .

[MrScorpio]

5. Kristen's pre-change macho occupation isn't all that unusual at all

As a matter of fact, it's fairly typical.

[ismnotwasm]

6. My very good friend is a decorated Vietnam veteran

She's ill now, but she did honor guard for quite a while as a woman. She says she'd get puzzled looks but evaded outright "I didn't know women were in combat then" comments or questions

[pinboy3niner]

7. I met another--a Vietnam combat Marine grunt vet who transgendered later

Vets tend to do a double-take when they see a woman wearing her Combat Action Ribbon.

[Whisp]

8. the most freaking awesome thing I have read today!

Change the Way!

[MikeW]

9. he must have kept it well hidden

Seals go through a similar process to SFAS ... theres NO WAY he could have passed
a security review and rec. his interim grant if he openly admitted that to anyone. He would have been immediately DQ'd.

Yes ... they DO ask all kinds of questions for clearance reviews and what the military and other government agencies that grant TS / SCI clearances do consider certain things to be
"behavioral" irregularities that they can DQ you on.

[DevonRex]

13. Not surprised one bit.

But it sure is wonderful to know for sure, isn't it? I'm telling you, there are LGBT stories galore about military service. Back before DADT even, in a lot of ways they gave more and sacrificed more than any of us.

The ones who were successful in staying under the radar were the best actors I ever knew. Perfect for certain MI MOSes. Very, very dangerous MOSes.