Transgender Veteran Speaks About Being Discharged

A soldier who served in the Army National Guard for a decade and was discharged two weeks before "don't ask, don't tell" was removed from service because she is transgender.

Staff Sergeant Rebecca Grant toured overseas in Bosnia and Iraq. In 2009, a fellow soldier revealed that Grant is transgender, leading to her official discharge earlier this month. While she told WFPL News in Louisville, Ky., that getting rid of "don't ask, don't tell" is a positive step in the right direction, she added that there's still no protection for transgender people serving in the military.

“With education this could change, people being informed on the different issues, not being closed-minded, not being ultra-conservative. Allowing us to have the rights that we should have had as a United State citizen, we need change,” she says.

Currently, eight U.S. allies permit transgender people to serve openly, including the Czech Republic, Israel, and Great Britain.

U.S. Army regulations state that transgender people are unfit to serve. Grant was discharged because of gender identity disorder.

Below, watch Grant speak about her experience.