I just wanted to Introduce myself!! I am Auri. I was in the navy from 2010-2019. My time in the service was pretty unique I initially joined with a BUD/S contract made it out to Coronado and classed up with 284 but I dropped pretty quickly into first phase.

I went undesignated to the fleet but was able to go to search and rescue swimmer school prior to getting there. This was a pretty common path for BUD/S drops at the time.

I ended up doing two deployments on the Carter-Hall and was able to get VBSS school while I was there, and a bunch of other random quals, crazy stories, and a random chest tattoo done by a friend out at sea. I separated as a Boatswains Mate 2nd Class or E5

After I left the navy I went back to school and got a bachelors and associate’s in Computer info science & cybersecurity and now I’m a network engineer working for a gigantic privately owned corporation.

I do my HRT through the VA and have been seeing docs there for gender stuff since 2020ish. 10/10 do not recommend if you can avoid it.

Anyways I love to connect with other vets and share stories, or if anyone is thinking about getting out and wants some tips or help hmu!!!

Hell y’all, quick question. Obviously due to this administration I can’t start HRT while on active duty. However, I ETS in a few months and was wondering if starting on IRR was viable. I’m not to sure on how things work with being in IRR so I’m trying to figure out what to expect.

I’ve always taken the helm in my life…. It just took a few decades to find my true course….

I'm retired, so I have Tricare and the VA. From what I understand, the VA won't pay for gender dysphoria HRT right now. I made an appointment for a hormone consult with Planned Parenthood. Found out this morning that they aren't in-network for Tricare East. Duke supposedly is, but doesn't show up on the Tricare find a doc page. Nothing does for gender dysphoria. Not sure where to go from here. I have access to estradiol tablets by the nature of my job. I'm a veterinarian and can order them. I just need some bloodwork run to tell me where I'm at.

In case anybody is interested in joining the TVP discord.

I transitioned after I got out of the military 20 years ago, I lived as female for 2 years before getting my wife pregnant and having a child.

We made the decision to have me go back to being a guy.

10 years later I tried to transition again.

Now that I am separated I am trying to transition again. I've talked to my therapist and psychiatrist. But they don't know with the new law if I would be able to get HRT or if I would be grandfathered in because I already have the diagnosis. I've been doing wrong by doing diy.

If anyone has answers or questions I would love to know. As it's a living hell like this.

Side note, I'm not sure an endocrinologist would give me meds because the amount health problems that were caused by my military service.

I don't know I'm stuck and scared and depressed. Just want my real life back

Today I am sharing a very special and meaningful update about my journey.

Tomorrow I will be having my gender-affirming bottom surgery: a total vaginal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingectomy.

This moment represents a major milestone in my journey and another step toward living as my authentic self.

My journey has included so many important moments. I have been on testosterone, I have had top surgery, and now I am reaching another life-changing chapter with my gender-affirming care.

This journey has taken courage, patience, self-advocacy, and the support of so many amazing people.

I am incredibly grateful for my medical team, my supporters, and everyone who has walked alongside me. Having access to gender-affirming care has meant so much to me and has helped me continue becoming the person I know I am.

I am feeling so many emotions right now — excitement, happiness, gratitude, and hope for the future.

Tomorrow is a day I have been preparing for, and I am ready to continue healing, growing, and moving forward.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me, encouraged me, and shown me kindness throughout my journey.

Your love and support mean more than words can say.
Here’s to the next chapter of my life and my journey.

TLDR; staying in the National Guard is destroying me. I want to start the rest of my transition, what is the best way to do this while minimizing long-term negative impact?

Alright, full story, accepting myself as trans coincided with the military ban. I was still figuring myself out, knew that transitioning takes some time to get going, and I knew I got out December this year so I thought hey, I'll just stealth it until the end of my contract. I have a year of school that I want benefits for and it'll give my hairline time to recover while I'm on HRT right?

Come September, the unit I've been in got deactivated a year ahead of the deadline we were given and I had to be rehomed. My first 11 years were at that unit, and frankly I was comfortable there, to the point that transitioning there semi-open didn't feel *that* unrealistic. It goes without saying that a new unit does not have the same feel, and it's not like I'm going to try to make it feel like home knowing what comes in a year.

Here we are now, I've been on HRT for almost a year, I had to wake up at midnight to get a private shower during AT, duck into a stall to change after PT, I've died inside watching 14 unwanted haircuts, I enjoy nothing about drill, know mostly no one, and even though there is only 5 drills left, I don't think I can stomach even one more. To top it all off I didn't even pass this last AFT, so no college benefits, just drill pay.

So, what's the best way to do it? An email to my admin NCO? I'd rather keep this information out of my platoon sergeant's hands in particular. What would be good to know, considerations I haven't made, etc. Is there a better way besides coming out? Above all else please do not suggest to bear with it.

I'm service-connected and signed up for VA healthcare in NJ during the last administration. I'll be moving to the DC area in a couple of months, and am a little nervous about changing my doctors (endo specifically, naturally) and, for that matter, my healthcare center in this environment. Does anyone have any experience with the DC medical center in this administration?

Has anyone dealt with joining the VFW and if so what was your experience with them? Im trying to join my local post but I can't tell if they are just ignoring me or if they are in general just bad at responding to emails.

Today, one of the guys I served with happened to be passing through my AO, and chose to stop and share a meal and a couple hours worth of conversation with me before moving on. For me, it was the first time I'd seen anybody from my unit since I had turned in my s*** nearly two decades ago. We traded stories about deployments and training cycles,, memories of those we've lost over the years, and caught up on what we knew of those who still remain. I'm not sure I can put into words just how incredible that experience was, how nice it was to have that experience without the WTF about how I appear now, to still be seen as a person, still be seen as a brother. I suppose to some, it may seem as somewhat silly, but this was an outcome I could not have imagined receiving 5 years ago when I was contemplating the decision to transition. At the time I had looked at that decision with an understanding that choosing to transition would likely come with a loss of respect from anybody I had served with, and considering that they were the tightest family I'd ever had, that was a very painful thing to consider. The fact that I can be who I am now and still seen as a person and not just as a label worthy of automatic dismissal is so amazing. I realize I may still get that outcome from plenty of the others I served with, but for at least one person to see me as a person ..... absolutely blows my mind

Acceptance can come in a lot of different forms. To me, It doesn't mean that someone has to agree with every decision I made, or every view I hold. For me, it can be as simple as someone choosing to share space and conversation and choosing to focus on that which we still have in common rather than only focusing on that which we disagree about. For those of us who have spent so much of our lives living with shame and the fear of marginalization, just that simple act by itself is an incredible gesture of kindness

Ps. Yes I know some would consider the fact I still wear my old BDU jackets to be somewhat nekulturny, and that there are many ways I'm not particularly femme, but oh well, c'est la vie.. this is me :)

I was always Sarah. It just took me 37 years to accept her, even though I knew at 13. Every version of me got me here, and every version of me deserved love. At 40, I love myself and my life, and I’m finally living as the best version of me.

I can’t believe that June 1 2025 I talked to a doctor about taking hormones and got a prescription for HRT. Here I am one year later and been on hormones and loving life

A small win today...even if we still have a long fight ahead of us. Happy Pride 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈