"When, in late July of 2017, the president sent his tweets in proposing a ban on all transgender military service, I was heartbroken. I loved the military and was so close to retirement, but I didn’t know if I could go back in the closet at that point."

"Am I perfect? No. But my command recognizes the hard work I put in and they see me as a competent well-trusted airman, not just a transgender troop."

"I immediately saw the scroll...“Trump to ban transgender service members from serving in military.” I felt the blood drain from my face, my hands went numb, and I remember having trouble hearing anything other than the loud tone in my ear like an audiogram gone bad."

"I feel that I can make a bigger difference leading and serving by example rather than from the outside."

"The bottom line was that our military, after repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 2011, continued to discriminate against its service members. Though we didn’t realize it yet, in just two years hope would be on the horizon."

"Integrity first. We learn these words in our first week of basic training... When I first yelled those words, on a dark October morning in San Antonio, I had no idea how they would come to define my life... How could I go each day pretending to be something I’m not?

"There I was, about to be famous and a part of naval history for being a female, but I’m really a man. I had no idea how I was going to handle that."

"I had no problem waking up on deployments knowing that could be the day I die, because I knew I would have done something with my life and would die doing what I love. But to wake up not knowing if that would be the day the organization to which you have given your adult life will abandon you is unbearable."

"Through sobs and a waterfall of happy tears I managed to choke out the announcement that Secretary Carter made, saying over and over “I get to be myself!” I have never cried so hard from happiness."

"I served with pride for a country I loved, a country where I was willing to give my life in its defense. But I had to serve in silence."

“I’m here to do a job just like you. I’m here to be a part of this team, just like you. And nothing is going to stop me from continuing to move forward and serving with honor.”

“Sir, I have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria and would like to transition under the Navy’s guidance.” I may be a little off on what I said, but I will never forget his response, “Oh is that all? I thought you were in trouble!"

"I joined because I had to; I joined because I felt it was my duty to serve my country; I joined to try to find a place in the male world where I could fit in as was expected of me."

"That mindset helped me cover up and avoid the person who was always inside of me like an annoying debtor asking for their due. I chose to ignore her in the hope that she would go away. If I detected her presence, I would shake her off like a pitcher on the mound who does not like the catcher’s call. "

"The military, for all of the challenges it wrought, offered me a path to safety in both my immediate and long-term future."

"I have faced harassment at every level of my career—a drill sergeant trying to take advantage of me in basic training, a first sergeant forcing himself on me as a lower enlisted person, a different homophobic first sergeant going on a crusade to have me kicked out for being gay, and a lieutenant colonel bent on proving that I was transgender. I have survived them all."

"Though I could not have readily defined it at the time, throughout my service I was cognizant that I was transgender. However, this was only one part of who I was (am) and I felt that my obligations to the people with whom I served and to this country superseded these feelings."