Coming Out: Muted Reflections

Part of a series of guest blogs for “National Coming Out Day 2012″ (October 11th) focusing on personal experiences related to revelations about sexual orientation. In this entry, OutServe contributor Brynn Tannehill offers a surprising and wholly unique look at open service and coming out.

By Brynn Tannehill

Despite leaving the Navy two Read More

A Year After DADT: Transgender & Transformation

Part of a series of guest blogs reflecting on the first anniversary of the formal repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

By Brynn Tannehill

I am a transgender woman who was in the Navy and the Naval Reserves for 13 years, and spent an additional four years at the Naval Academy. I remained deeply closeted throughout my time in service. I never found Read More

Trans and the Military FAQ

About a month ago I interviewed David McKean, head of the Servicemember’s Legal Defense Network (SLDN) regarding legal and UCMJ issues surrounding being trans in the military. David emphasized that every situation is differs in the particulars. The way trans people are dealt with by the military depends greatly on the individual chain of command, Read More

Leave No One Behind

A Plea from One Transgender Veteran to not Forget Her Community

By Brynn Tannehill

One year has passed since the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), and it is, rightly, a time for celebrating. Service members kicked out under DADT have returned to active duty. The Pentagon held Pride Month ceremonies. Pictures of lesbian and gay service Read More

All of Me

Several weeks ago I started putting together everything I thought might be necessary to get a new military ID card as a member of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). Much of the groundwork had already been done because I am a DoD contractor on base. Just in case, though, I put together all of my name and gender change paperwork in a folder, and brought Read More

Truly Trans? A Call for Unity

A few years back, when I was just starting the transition process, an older trans woman was trying to convince me what path I should take. Get this surgery. You don’t need that one. Your sexual orientation will change anyway once you’ve had Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS).

I described this odd and frustrating online exchange with a friend of mine Read More

The Most Unwanted Voter

By Brynn Tannehill

Last week was my first opportunity to vote with my new name and new identity. The ballot issue was an emergency levy for the schools to raise the city income tax from 2.25 percent to 3.25 percent. Predictably, it failed. The more memorable part was showing up and discovering that I was still listed under my old name in the voter Read More

Some Wishes For A Second Term

A Poll of the Transgender Community

By Brynn Tannehill

Recently, the California Democratic Party called on the Democratic National Committee to embrace marriage equality as part of their official platform prior to the Presidential Convention in early September.  While marriage equality … Read More

Pentagon Pride: Reflections from a Trans Vet

By Brynn Tannehill

As a transgender veteran who is involved with OutServe and SLDN, the anniversary of the end of DADT is a bittersweet occasion.  It represents progress, and hope for the future of other transgender vets.  It is tinged with the fear of being forgotten and left behind.  I left the service behind several years before I transitioned, and now spend my life as a well air-conditioned DoD contractor designing the systems that people behind me will take with them to war.  I am working on base, but out here in the flyover country of Ohio events at the Pentagon and the White House seem far and distant.  All I have to go by is what I read all over the internet, and my interactions with people who reside in more interesting places than me.

I marveled at the official event at the Pentagon and at the military and leaders willing to go on record supporting lesbian and gay troops.  There is a world of difference between now and my plebe year at the academy in 1993-1994 when DADT was instituted.  I remember the universal wave of anger that surrounded me at the mere thought that President Clinton was inching his way towards letting “those” people serve with slightly less fear of persecution.  I remember folks swearing up and down they would quit if “those people” might be sitting there next to them.  Yet here, today, they are officially celebrating LGBT pride at the Pentagon.  We have a seat at the table, and everything is marching towards a level playing field. Read More

Sticking the Landing

“I am not proud of how I handled being trans for most of my life. I ran from it, I was dishonest, and in the end, the people I love most had to ride it out with me. But I am proud of how I stuck the landing.”Read More