News and Events => People news => Topic started by: SandraJane on July 08, 2012, 06:14:41 PM Return to Full Version
Title: A long road for transgender vet
Post by: SandraJane on July 08, 2012, 06:14:41 PM
Post by: SandraJane on July 08, 2012, 06:14:41 PM
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A long road for transgender vet
Posted: 07/06/2012 11:55 PM
http://m.timesunion.com/tu/db_39921/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=BHMnuZDW&detailindex=1&pn=0&ps=6&full=true#display (http://m.timesunion.com/tu/db_39921/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=BHMnuZDW&detailindex=1&pn=0&ps=6&full=true#display)
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ALBANY —The Department of Veterans Affairs I.D. card was issued to Ricky Anderson and shows a picture of a strong-jawed, heavyset person appearing as a woman with eye shadow, mascara, dangly earrings and feathered shoulder-length hair.
Long after leaving Army service in 1980, Ricky Anderson identified as being a transgender woman, began hormone replacement therapy, took the name of Rebecca and began transitioning to life as a woman.
When Anderson visited the Stratton VA Hospital this week for a follow-up visit after recent minor surgery, she wore a long floral print sundress over a large, mannish body and prominent stomach.
"I had people ask me if I'm pregnant," Anderson, 52, said with a giggle. She struggled to speak in a soft, high-pitched feminine tone as her voice occasionally broke and dropped into a lower masculine register.
Although she faced ridicule in the past for her transgender status amid the macho culture of the Army, Anderson said the VA staff has become accommodating.
"They call me Rebecca now and treat me nicely," she said. That wasn't always the case. The situation started getting better about a year ago, she said, around the time that the military repealed its long-standing "don't ask, don't tell" policy that barred openly gay, lesbian or bisexual people from military service.
A long road for transgender vet
Posted: 07/06/2012 11:55 PM
http://m.timesunion.com/tu/db_39921/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=BHMnuZDW&detailindex=1&pn=0&ps=6&full=true#display (http://m.timesunion.com/tu/db_39921/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=BHMnuZDW&detailindex=1&pn=0&ps=6&full=true#display)
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.vrvm.com%2Fmedia%2Frender.htm%3Fm%3D453908030%26amp%3Bwidth%3D320&hash=4ccf4abe9f45944720f5ab6f278d151e48fa7b79)
ALBANY —The Department of Veterans Affairs I.D. card was issued to Ricky Anderson and shows a picture of a strong-jawed, heavyset person appearing as a woman with eye shadow, mascara, dangly earrings and feathered shoulder-length hair.
Long after leaving Army service in 1980, Ricky Anderson identified as being a transgender woman, began hormone replacement therapy, took the name of Rebecca and began transitioning to life as a woman.
When Anderson visited the Stratton VA Hospital this week for a follow-up visit after recent minor surgery, she wore a long floral print sundress over a large, mannish body and prominent stomach.
"I had people ask me if I'm pregnant," Anderson, 52, said with a giggle. She struggled to speak in a soft, high-pitched feminine tone as her voice occasionally broke and dropped into a lower masculine register.
Although she faced ridicule in the past for her transgender status amid the macho culture of the Army, Anderson said the VA staff has become accommodating.
"They call me Rebecca now and treat me nicely," she said. That wasn't always the case. The situation started getting better about a year ago, she said, around the time that the military repealed its long-standing "don't ask, don't tell" policy that barred openly gay, lesbian or bisexual people from military service.
Title: Re: A long road for transgender vet
Post by: Joelene9 on July 08, 2012, 09:24:56 PM
Post by: Joelene9 on July 08, 2012, 09:24:56 PM
Thanks, Sandra for that article. I would have no such luck with the VA back in 1977 for this Vietnam era veteran. Things are changing for the better.
Joelene
Joelene