A Year After DADT: Transgender & Transformation
Opinions — 19 September 2012
By Brynn Tannehill
http://outservemag.com/2012/09/a-year-after-dadt-transgender-transformation/I am a transgender woman who was in the Navy and the Naval Reserves for 13 years, and spent an additional four years at the Naval Academy. I remained deeply closeted throughout my time in service. I never found a military support network for people in my situation while I was in. This is why I am an active member of OutServe; in the hope that I can help provide support to other members of the military who are transgender.
My perspective should sound very familiar to lesbian and gay service members who were unable to reconcile who they were with the pressures of being in the service. I left the reserves about a year before the end of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT), and started my transition simultaneously. My departure from the reserves was due in great part to finally admitting that I couldn't go any farther in life lying to my service, to myself, or my family. The burden of trying to be someone else negatively affected my ability to be an effective officer, employee, parent, and spouse. I knew when I started the process that I would probably never be able to come back, despite having 13 years in service. However, the cost of continuing to be dishonest looked to be even higher.
