FOR HEATHER, E MAIL IT AT
WCCO.COM/LINKS.
THE FACE OF THE U.S.
MILITARY IS CHANGING.
THIS MONTH MARKS ONE YEAR
SINCE THE PENTAGON LIFTED ITS
BAN ON TRANSGENDER SERVICE
MEMBERS, SOME SOLDIERS,
INCLUDING TWO IN THE MINNESOTA
NATIONAL GUARD, ARE NOW
REPORTING FOR DUTY AS A
DIFFERENT GENDER.
TONIGHT THEY ARE SHARING WHAT IT
IS LIKE TO TRANSITION IN
UNIFORM.
KIM JOHNSON BRINGS THIS STORY
THAT YOU WILL SEE ONLY ON WCCO.
Reporter: TERENCE ROBERTSON
DOESN'T SHY FROM BREAKING
BARRIERS, BEFORE THE WORLD WOULD
MEET TERENCE, THERE WAS TARA,
WHO WANTED DEPLOYMENT TO
AFGHANISTAN BEGAN THE FIRST
MINNESOTA GEMAIL TO SERVE IN
COMBAT ZONE, THE FIRST TRAIL THE
CAPTAIN WOULD BLAZE.
I FELT LIKE I SHOULD HAVE
ALWAYS BEEN A BOY.
I JUST-- I COULDN'T EXPLAIN IT.
Reporter: A FEELING OFTEN
SHARED BY THOSE WHO ARE
TRANSGENDER, BECAUSE OF THE
MILITARY'S BAN ON TRANSTROOPS,
ROBERTSON REPRESSED THOSE
FEELINGS IN AND OUTSIDE THE
MILITARY.
I LOVE SERVING IN THE
MILITARY AND I DIDN'T WANT TO
RISK MY CAREER.
Reporter: MEANWHILE, IN A
DIFFERENT UNIT, ANOTHER SOLDIER
HAD THE SAME FEELINGS ABOUT
GENDER.
DEPRESSING THEM WAS TOO MUCH.
SERGEANT SEBASTIAN WAS LIVING AS
A MAN AT HOME BUT GOING TO DRILL
AS FEMALE.
YOU COULD GET KICKED OUT FOR
BEING OPENLY TRANSGENDER.
I DIDN'T TELL THE GUARD.
Reporter: WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO
HAVE TO SUPPRESS PART OF WHO YOU
ARE?
I WOULD GET REALLY ANXIOUS
BEFORE A DRILL AND I WOULD HAVE
TO KIND OF LIKE DO SOME SELF
CARE AFTER A DRILL WEEKEND
BECAUSE WHEN, IN CIVILIAN LIFE,
I WOULD USE THE MALE REST ROOM,
LOCKER ROOM, EVERYTHING WAS
PERFECTLY FINE, BUT THEN WHEN I
WOULD GO TO DRILL, I WAS FORCED
TO DO ALL FEMALE THINGS.
SO THAT GOT TO BE REALLY HARD.
Reporter: THAT DOUBLE LIFE
FOR THE SOLDIERS ENDED JULY
30th, 2016, WHEN THEN SECRETARY
OF DEFENSEX ASH CARTER, LIFTED
THE BAN ON ALLOWING TRANSGENDER
TROOPS TO SERVE OPENLY,
TRANSITIONING, HORMONES,
SURGERY, WAS THE EASY PART.
TELLING THEIR COMRADES WOULD
TAKE MORE BRAVERRY THAN
DEPLOYING FOR BATTLE.
I STOOD IN FRONT OF THE
COMPANY AND ADDRESSED EVERY
SOLDIER AND TOLD THEM THAT I WAS
TRANSGENDER.
WHAT WAS THAT LIKE FOR YOU,
THOUGH, TO GET UP THERE?
IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT.
I WAS RELUCTANT AND I FELT LIKE
I HAD TO DO IT BECAUSE WE
RECENTLY GOT SOME RESULTS FROM A
SURVEY THAT CAME BACK AND THERE
WERE SOME SOLDIERS THAT HAD
EXPRESSED SOME CONCERN THAT HAD
HEARD I WAS TRANSGENDER AND THEY
WERE CONCERNED ABOUT HAVING A
TRANSGENDER COMMANDER, THEY WERE
CONCERN ABOUT SHARING A BATHROOM
WITH ME.
DO THEY HAVE A MAP FOR
A-HATS?
OR JUST 25?
Reporter: SINCE THEY BEGAN
SERVING AS MEN, BOTH ROBERTSON
ANDNEMIC HAD LITTLE RESISTANCE .
MY NEW UNIT, THEY ARE VERY
ACCEPTING AND ARE ENCOURAGING,
MY SUPERVISOR HELPED A LOT IN MY
COMPANY COMMANDER HELPED LOT.
Reporter: A SORT OF
IN-BETWEEN SIME FOR THE
SOLDIERS, WHILE THE PENTAGON
PROCESSES THEIR GENDER CHANGE
REQUEST, THEY ARE REQUIRED TO
USE FEMALE BATHROOMS.
WE HAVE A COUPLE OF SINGLE
STALL BATHROOMS SO I ALWAYS USE
THOSE AS OPPOSED TO USING THE
REGULAR FULL BATHROOM, JUST TO
TRY TO EASE ANYBODY'S CONCERNS.
Reporter: WHERE TO SLEEP ON
OVERNIGHT DRILLS CAN ALSO BE AN
ISSUE.
ONCE ON HORMONES, MY VOICE
STARTED DROPPING AND WHEN NEW
PEOPLE WOULD COME TO THE UNIT,
THEY WOULD AUTOMATICALLY
PERCEIVE ME AS MALE.
IT IS LIKE, YOU PROBABLY
SHOULDN'T BE SLEEPING IN THE
FEMALE, BUT BY REGULATION I
CAN'T SLEEP IN THE MALE BAY.
Reporter: HIS COMMANDERS
ARAVED A SINGLE ROOM, A CULTURE
OF ACCEPTANCE THAT SHOWS FROM
THE TOP BRASS OF THE MINNESOTA
NATIONAL GUARD.
BECOMING A MUCH MORE
INCLUSIVE FORCE.
Reporter: BRIGADIER JENSON
BELIEVES INCLUSIVE IS STRONG.
WE NEED TO REFLECT OUR
SOCIETY AND CULTURE THAT WE COME
FROM, AND WE KNOW THAT THESE
PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY, WHY
SHOULD THEY NOT BE PART OF OUR
MILITARY?
WHY SHOULD WE NOT ALLOW THEM TO
CONTRIBUTE THEIR COUNTRY?
Reporter: AN UNPRECEDENTED
TIME IN THE U.S. MILITARY, THESE
MEMBERS ARE PROUD TO LEAD THE
WAY.
SO YOU ARE ONE OF THE FIRST
TRANSGENDER TROOPS EVER?
IN THE U.S. MILITARY?
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE MAKING
HISTORY?
I LIKE TO THINK SO, I THINK
IT IS MORE ON A SMALL SCALE
LEVEL IN MINNESOTA.
I WANT TO LEAD A PATH AND
BRING SOME OF THESE PEOPLE
TOGETHER AS WELL AS SHOW YOUNGER
TRANSPEOPLE THAT IT IS POSSIBLE
TO DO ALL THESE THINGS.
Reporter: WHILE THEY ARE
PROOF IT IS NOW POSSIBLE TO BE
TRANSGENDER AND SOLDIER, THERE
IS ONE THEY HOPE ALWAYS COMES
FIRST.
JUST DON'T WANT IT TO BE A
THING.
OR A LABEL, OR I AM A SOLDIER,
THAT IS THE FIRST THING THAT I
AM.
Reporter: KIM JOHNSON, WCCO 4
NEWS.
A BAB ON ENLISTING NEW
TRANS-- BAN ON ENLISTING NEW
TRANSGENDER TROOPS SET TO EXPIRE
