Transgender former Navy SEAL is ‘proud’ of Caitlyn Jenner
By Alex Bregman
The day after Caitlyn Jenner accepted the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2015 ESPY Awards, telling the audience to embrace the notion of “accepting people for who they are,” transgender former Navy SEAL Kristin Beck tells Yahoo global news anchor Katie Couric, “I’m proud of her.”
Beck served in the Navy SEALs for 20 years, receiving a Bronze Star and Purple Heart along the way. She retired in 2011 and came out as a transgender woman in 2013.
On Jenner’s speech, Beck said, “It reaches so many more people than any one of us could ever reach.”
Beck also answered questions about this week’s news that the Pentagon is reviewing its ban on transgender people serving in the armed forces.
“This has been a long battle. So this has been something that I’ve been working on for a little over two years now.”
She went on to say, “You can put aside my gender or being transgender. Put aside my color. Put aside everything. Am I capable or am I not capable? Well, I’ll tell you what. I was on the SEAL teams for 20 years, and I am capable. There are a lot of transgender people out there that are capable of so much more, but you have to give us a chance, and that’s all we’re asking for.”
Beck is now running for the Democratic nomination in Maryland’s Fifth Congressional District against the longtime incumbent Democratic whip, Steny Hoyer.
Her message to Hoyer: “Steny has been in office now for over 30 years and he’s done a good job, and I appreciate some of the work he’s done. But it’s — you know, it’s time to go fishin’, Steny.”
WATCH Transforming History: Retro Report’s documentary on Transgender people’s fight for equal rights.
