Trans And Deployed-Keith's Story

While LGB people will be celebrating the first anniversary of the end of DADT, we trans people are not only barred from enlisting in our military, those of us who are currently enlisted have to hide who they are.

To give you folks an idea what that is like, OutServe will be publishing a column from Keith Thompson, a transman who is currently deployed in Afghanistan.  

The command climate in my unit during pre-deployment was harsh for me. The Soldiers in my unit think that I am a lesbian, serving openly and proudly. They do not know I am trans. I have never had an issue with any of my immediate colleagues about my sexual orientation. Just before we deployed, however, we received a new “butter bar” in our ranks. I started to feel that I was treated differently from the rest of the crew, chosen for the jobs nobody really wanted. Most of all, I could tell that this officer had a huge issue with me. Whenever I attempted conversation with her, she would ignore me.

Here's the rest of Keith's column.