Trans service members say they want to fight for their country, not for their jobs
When Alivia Stehlik, an Army major, came out as a transgender woman in the spring of 2017, she said she was nervous about how her colleagues and other soldiers would react, especially because she’s a physical therapist.
“You have to physically touch most of your patients, and I had some nerves initially that folks would be uncomfortable,” she said. However, in the eight years since she came out, she said she’s been “overwhelmingly, pleasantly surprised at every single turn.”