Heartfelt personal accounts from transgender people fighting for the right to serve in the military
-Prior to coming out as transgender I served the first several years of my career under -Don-t Ask, Don-t Tell,- hiding my sexual orientation out of the constant fear of expulsion. I then found myself in the same predicament as when I first joined, wanting nothing more than to serve my country and do my job, but at the cost of sacrificing a major part of who I am. . . . This time, however, I decided that I could no longer sacrifice my own well-being, my own authentic self.--Mak Vaden, Warrant Officer 1, U.S. Army National Guard, 2006-present
-I have traveled around the world. . . . I have been on five cutters with eleven years of sea time and commanded the Coast Guard cutter Campbell. I have negotiated treaties and fostered international law enforcement cooperation. I have stopped drug smugglers and seized illegal fishing vessels on the high seas. An
