Army Capt. Alivia Stehlik commissioned as an infantry officer from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., graduated from Ranger School and lived a “soldier’s life,” she said, spending long periods in the field before becoming a physical therapist in the service.
After the Obama administration rescinded a ban in 2016 on serving while transgender, she wanted to do something else as a soldier, too: transition from male to female.
The decision did not affect her ability to do her job, she told the House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on military personnel on Wednesday. Stehlik recently returned from a deployment to eastern Afghanistan, where she had replaced a pregnant soldier in her unit. She acknowledged having concerns that soldiers in her unit would be comfortable with her treating them but said she found that they actually opened up to her after she transitioned.
“They talked to me and told me things they never would have before,” Stehlik said. “Things they said they’ve never told other people. I asked them why, and the consistent answer is that they valued my authenticity — my courage in being myself. It allowed them to do the same thing.”
Stehlik was one of five U.S. service members who testified before the subcommittee, becoming the first transgender members of the military to openly talk about their experiences before Congress. They appeared in civilian clothing in their own capacity, describing their experiences at a time when the Trump administration is fighting in federal court to put in place a new policy that will limit many transgender people from serving in their preferred sex.
The other service members testifying were Navy Lt. Cmdr. Blake Dremann, a supply officer; Army Capt. Jennifer Peace, an intelligence officer; Army Staff Sgt. Patricia King, an infantry soldier; and Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Akira Wyatt, a hospital corpsman who is assigned to treat Marine infantrymen.
All five service members have deployed and are eligible to do so now, they said. They all indicated they believe transgender service members should be required to do their jobs to stay in the military. Read more via Washington Post