User:Morriswa

I am a transgender woman. I enlisted in the United States Navy (USN) and served from March 20, 2002 to March 19, 2016. I got discharged from the USN due to High Year Tenure. I was a second-class petty officer. In 2014, I fully discovered that I am transgender and started dressing up as my real self.

Background
I'm a transgender lesbian. I'm not attracted to men at all. I was in the USN while the ban on open service by transgender people was originally in effect. I didn't work much since I was discharged (until May 2018), and I currently don't have health insurance, therefore, I can't afford to pay for any services myself (all procedures are tens of thousands of dollars). Therefore, I haven't been able to start hormone therapy or get any surgeries. I fully intend to physically become a woman someday.

When I was a kid, I noticed that – when an attractive woman (or a woman in an attractive dress) walked by – I had a desire to dress like her and eventually become a woman like her. I couldn't do anything about this, since I was raised in a very strict Christian home and was raised in Baptist churches. It was only passing thoughts at the time. I joined the Navy, and met my ex-wife (we were together just over 10 years). In 2011, I was stationed at Fort Gordon. I was there from 2011 to 2016. In 2014, I discovered who and what kind of person I was on the inside. She never knew I was dressing as my real self until after the divorce paperwork was started. However, I didn't "take the plunge" until February of that year.