A Look into Lady Valor

Kirsten Beck was born in Wellsville, NY and graduated from Alfred University. She served in the United States military as a Navy Seal for 20 years. She completed numerous direct missions and was deployed a total of 13 times. She was the first person to come out as a transgender woman. It is not uncommon for transgender people to enlist into the military. Approximately 13% of people who serve today are transgender. Her book, Warrior Princess: A U.S. Navy SEAL's Journey to Coming out Transgender, highlights her experiences serving with distinction. She retired in 2011. Beck said that she left the military because “she wanted to live her life and be happy.” She said that she could have been attacked for coming out within the ranks. She has developed a documentary tiled “Lady Valor, the Kirsten Beck Story” in 2013. You can view the movie on Netflix. She lives outside of Tampa, FL and has two teenage sons with her former partner who now resides in Minnesota. She said her children are “fairly open” to her new gender identity and expression. “It makes me proud of them that they can look beyond a lot of things and they are accepting of something,” Beck said.

According to Beck, “There’s a lot of prejudice out there. There's been a lot of transgender people who are killed for prejudice, for hatred. When the book came out there was some amazing support and some amazing praise but also some pretty amazing bigotry and hatred.” The “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy does not allow for transgender people to serve in the U.S. military. She now travels around the country giving speeches and lectures to colleges on ending discrimination against transgender people. She advocates for civil rights and traveled to Washington D.C to speak to Congress and encourages people to not judge others before you get to know them; they could become a really close friend. Beck encourages people to be a lighthouse, show the light and let go of prejudices. “There’s a big need, especially for the LGBT community. We try to break the stigma, discrimination and prejudice. The transgender community is a beautiful community that we need to take care of. The person you see today is the same person you thanked last week” Kirsten said. Kirsten’s latest project is to create a rehabilitation center for military veterans called Healing Grounds.