Two women from Missouri are headed toward retirement from the military. While they dealt with the stresses and dangers of the military like any other active duty officer, they were placed with the added complication of coming out as transgender during their service.
Alleria Stanley is a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant. Her last day of active duty is on February 28, following 20 years of service. She's one of two trans women to earn the high distinction at Fort Leonard Wood next month. Alleria told KMOX what it was like to join the military during the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" era.
"During that time, being transgender was a dischargeable classification based on mental health concerns," she explained. "And so if you ever discovered to be transgender, you were a male, your career would come to an end and you'd be immediately discharged. And so you had to hide it. And that was true all the way until June 30 2016, which was a momentous day for all of us."
That date in 2016 was when Defense Secretary Ash Carter opened service to trans individuals. Alleria said when she heard the announcement, she was in tears of joy that she didn't have to hide anymore.
"There's always a fear of anything being discovered. And so the next day, I went to work in uniform, and I went up to one of my colleagues who was an officer and was able to say, without any fear, 'I am transgender,'" she said. "And I knew that I still would not lose my job and have a career the next day. And it was so very freeing, and enabling just to open up and integrate these two parts of my lives that I treasure both of them."
Alleria did say that later on, there was an announcement that the allowance of trans people to serve in the military would be rescinded. Alleria wondered, "Did I just get fired by a tweet?" However, the ability for trans people to serve was eventually restored.
Hear more from Alleria Stanley as she talks about growing up as the daughter of a drill sergeant, coming out as transgender while in the military, and more:
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