With Honor and Integrity: Transgender Troops in Their Own Words

by Máel Embser-Herbert (Editor), Bree Fram (Editor)

Overview

Heartfelt personal accounts from transgender people fighting for the right to serve in the military

“Prior to coming out as transgender I served the first several years of my career under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” hiding my sexual orientation out of the constant fear of expulsion. I then found myself in the same predicament as when I first joined, wanting nothing more than to serve my country and do my job, but at the cost of sacrificing a major part of who I am. . . . This time, however, I decided that I could no longer sacrifice my own well-being, my own authentic self.”—Mak Vaden, Warrant Officer 1, U.S. Army National Guard, 2006-present

“I have traveled around the world. . . . I have been on five cutters with eleven years of sea time and commanded the Coast Guard cutter Campbell. I have negotiated treaties and fostered international law enforcement cooperation. I have stopped drug smugglers and seized illegal fishing vessels on the high seas. And, I also have gender dysphoria and identify as a trans woman.”—Allison Caputo, Captain, US Coast Guard, 1995–present

On January 25, 2021, in one of his first acts as President, Joe Biden reversed the Trump Administration’s widely condemned ban on transgender people in the military. In With Honor and Integrity, Máel Embser-Herbert and Bree Fram introduce us to the brave individuals who are on the front lines of this issue, assembling a powerful, accessible, and heartfelt collection of first-hand accounts from transgender military personnel in the United States.

Featuring twenty-six essays from current service members or veterans, these eye-opening accounts show us what it is like to serve in the military as a transgender person. From a religious affairs specialist in the Army National Guard, to a petty officer first class in the Navy, to a veteran of the Marine Corps who became “the real me” at age forty-nine, these accounts are personal, engaging, and refreshingly honest. Contributors share their experiences from before and during President Trump’s ban—what barriers they face at work, why they do or don’t choose to serve openly, and how their colleagues have treated them. Fram, a lieutenant colonel who is serving openly as a transgender woman in the US Space Force, and has advocated for open service policies, shares her experience in the aftermath of Trump’s announcement of the ban on Twitter.

Ultimately, Embser-Herbert and Fram provide an inspiring look at the past, present, and future of transgender military service. At a time when LGBTQ rights are under siege, and the opportunity to serve continues to be challenged, With Honor and Integrity is a timely and necessary read.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781479801039
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	11/09/2021
Series:	LGBTQ Politics , #1
Pages:	232
Sales rank:	444,822
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 6.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Máel Embser-Herbert (Editor)
Máel Embser-Herbert is Professor of Sociology at Hamline University. They are a veteran of the US Army and author of Camouflage Isn’t Only for Combat: Gender, Sexuality, and Women in the Military and The U.S. Military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy: A Reference Handbook.

Bree Fram (Editor)
Bree Fram is a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Space Force who has held command at the squadron level, led USAF security cooperation with Iraq, and led space acquisition programs. She is the President of SPARTA, an organization that advocates and educates about transgender military service.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Glossary xi

Introduction 1

Part I Welcome to the Military

1 The Battle for Open Service 21

Part II In Their Own Words

2 Serving in Silence 39

Sheri A. Swokowski, Colonel, U.S. Army National Guard, 1970-2004 39

Evan Young, Major, U.S. Army, 1989-2013 46

A. Jordan Blisk, Senior Airman, U.S. Air Force, 2011-2015 52

Rachael Evelyn Booth, Petty Officer Second Class, U.S. Navy, 1969-1977 59

Danielle "Dani" Butler, Master Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, 1976-1998 65

Hanna Tripp, Senior Airman, U.S. Air Force, 2009-2013 69

3 Serving with Honor 74

Bree Fram, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Air Force/Space Force, 2003-present 74

Seth Stang, Staff Sergeant, U.S. Air Force, 2010-present 81

Alexandria Holder, Technical Sergeant, U.S. Air Force, 2004-present 85

Jamie Hash, Master Sergeant, U.S. Air Force, 2011-present 89

Tyler "Billy" Billiet, Technical Sergeant, U.S. Air Force, 2013-present 94

Sabrina Bruce, Technical Sergeant, U.S. Air Force/Space Force, 2013-present 102

Sterling J. Crutcher, Senior Airman, U.S. Air Force, 2015-present 107

4 Serving with Integrity 113

Sebastian Nemec, Sergeant, U.S. Army National Guard, 2011-present 113

Zaneford Alvarez, Sergeant, US. Army, 2012-present 118

Caroline A. Morrison, Specialist, U.S. Army National Guard, 1999-present 123

Mak Vaden, Warrant Officer 1, U.S. Army National Guard, 2006-present 129

Tucker Duval, Captain, U.S. Army, 2008-2017 132

Nate Hoang, Captain, U.S. Army, 2017-present 137

5 Serving with Commitment 145

Kris Moore, Lieutenant, U.S. Navy, 2005-present 145

Blake Dremann, Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Navy, 2005-present 152

Allison Caputo, Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, 1995-present 157

Eve, Petty Officer First Class, U.S. Navy, 2004-present 164

Molly T. Sackman, Petty Officer First Class, U.S. Navy, 2006-present 170

Miranda Jones, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps, 1989-2019 178

Natalie Seidel, Petty Officer Second Class, U.S. Navy, 2012-present 183

Part III Going Forward

6 Serving in the Future 189

Acknowledgments 197

Notes 199

About the Contributors 205

About the Editors 211

Editorial Reviews

"With Honor and Integrity is a must-read book by two of the nation's leading experts. This volume is a badly needed contribution to our understanding of military service by transgender personnel, but it’s also much more than that, providing invaluable historical context and insightful policy analysis. Most of all, it centers transgender and gender-diverse Americans who show, in their own voices, that it’s possible to live authentically while serving in uniform."

Aaron Belkin

"The editors succeed mightily in producing a volume about the challenges and rewards of military service for transgender troops that will engage a wide readership. All libraries should acquire this necessary title."

Choice - C. Pinto

"With Honor and Integrity shares the pain of the closet and the triumph of transition for transgender patriots. Their stories underscore how policies of integrity and truth serve our nation best. Our nation's thanks goes to the brave souls who have blazed trails and shared their truths."

C. Dixon Osburn

"The experiences of transgender servicemembers have been all too scant in analyses of the US military's anti-LGBT history. With Honor and Integrity ameliorates this absence, powerfully demonstrating the impact of gendered military policy on the trans and gender nonconforming people who serve under its watchful eye. In their own words, the trans servicemembers that Embser-Herbert and Fram profile show the difference that supportive—or unsupportive—supervisors, colleagues, and policies can make. This extremely timely intervention is a must-read for military scholars and policymakers alike."

Cati Connell

"The world has waited too long to hear directly from the transgender patriots who have put their lives on the line to protect the rest of us. Now, at last, two leading voices in the field who have worn the uniform themselves, have brought together an extraordinary collection of first-hand accounts by active-duty service members and veterans, officers and enlisted personnel, those who have undergone transition and those who are doing so or may in the future. In the process, Mael Embser-Herbert and Bree Fram have made an invaluable contribution to our understanding of gender and military service, showing once again what it means to serve their country."

Nathaniel Frank

★ 11/01/2021

An exquisite book about serving in the U.S. military as a transgender person, edited by Embser-Herbert (sociology, Hamline Univ.; Camouflage Isn't Only for Combat) and Fram (Lt. Col., U.S. Space Force), with just enough historical and sociological context to make the volume's personal stories that much more meaningful. The topic at hand seems narrow, but the book's presentation makes it broadly applicable to the entire discipline of transgender studies. It begins with a discussion of terms and history, followed by 26 essays by transgender service members and veterans. These essays are the core of the book; each evinces that there is no universal trans experience. The contributors are of diverse gender identities, sexual orientations, races, and military backgrounds. The first section, devoted to essays by older veterans (including a colonel in her early 70s), is appropriately titled "Serving in Silence"; the essays in the other sections are from active-duty troops. The editors conclude by considering the future and bringing some of the stories up to date. VERDICT A simple description can't do justice to the beauty, elegance, and courage displayed here. Readers will want to meet and spend time with these contributors. A worthwhile collection, highly recommended for all readers.—David Azzolina, Univ. of Pennsylvania Libs., Philadelphia

Library Journal

2021-09-22
A collection of essays written by transgender military personnel that shed light on the unvoiced experiences of trans people in the American armed services.

Embser-Herbert is a sociology professor and Army veteran, and Fram is a lieutenant colonel in the Space Force and president of the transgender military advocacy group SPART*A. In 2016, the Obama administration officially allowed trans men and women to serve as members of the military. This landmark legislation—overturned by the Trump administration a year later—was intended to address issues of trans inclusion that had been left out of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal act. Embser-Herbert takes their earlier research on how the lives of transgender military personnel “illuminate…understanding of gender” and transforms it into a study that showcases a series of firsthand accounts by trans soldiers. While the DADT repeal allowed gays, lesbians, and bisexuals the freedom “to serve openly and authentically,” it did not help trans people, whom the Department of Defense still continued to discharge. Embser-Herbert follows this analysis with testimonials from trans veterans who left the military before the Obama administration’s 2016 announcement. Some, like Sheri A. Swokowski, faced discrimination and job loss once they came out of the closet and even after they left the military. Others, like Evan Young, felt compelled to leave the armed services to lead more authentic lives. The voices in other chapters belong to current trans armed forces personnel. Many, like co-editor Fram, discuss their race to transition before the 2019 Trump ban officially disallowed physical transition for service members identifying as trans. All speak of finding support among their colleagues; one, Sterling Crutcher, even praises the military for offering the succor his own family did not. This candid, illuminating collection will appeal to military historians with an interest in gender or to gender scholars seeking to address issues pertaining to trans marginalization.

Enlightening reading.

Kirkus Reviews

"The experiences of transgender servicemembers have been all too scant in analyses of the US military's anti-LGBT history. With Honor and Integrity ameliorates this absence, powerfully demonstrating the impact of gendered military policy on the trans and gender nonconforming people who serve under its watchful eye. In their own words, the trans servicemembers that Embser-Herbert and Fram profile show the difference that supportive—or unsupportive—supervisors, colleagues, and policies can make. This extremely timely intervention is a must-read for military scholars and policymakers alike."

Catherine Connell