A Navy SEAL’s life-changing secret

Last updated on: June 23, 2015 at 1:24 pm by Dan Wilkinson

A Navy SEAL’s life-changing secret 2015-06-23T13:24:04-06:00 Dan Wilkinson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

lv1

Christopher Beck is a former Navy SEAL who, in the summer of 2013, came out as Kristin Beck — a transgender woman. Beck’s story garnered wide attention through an Anderson Cooper special and a book chronicling her journey, Warrior Princess.

This past fall CNN premiered a documentary about her life, Lady Valor: The Kristin Beck Story, which was recently released on DVD.

Lady Valor presents an honest, humorous and heartbreaking account of Kristin’s struggles. Kristin is someone who doesn’t have it all figured out, but is nevertheless negotiating life as best she can and is finding hope along the way. Addressing questions about her new identity she says:

It’s hard to explain. People ask me about that, they say “I don’t really understand transgender, and you know, can you explain it to me?” And the only thing I can tell them is I don’t really know what transgender is either. I don’t know — I mean, I know what it is, it’s this — but I don’t know where it comes from or why. It’s not an environmental thing that was pushed on me or some food I ate and suddenly I broke out with “transgender.”

I’m not a gay man. I’m not a drag queen. I am not maybe total dude and not total feminine, I’m not totally female. I’m not really — I think I’m living more in that gray world, and I’m still trying to figure it out, and maybe that’s what everybody else is trying to do too — they’re trying to figure me out. They’re like “I don’t know what that is,” which is kind of derogatory, but people are trying to figure it out.

It took me a long time to get to this point where I’m comfortable living in my own skin and I’m very comfortable living the way I’m living right now because it’s natural to me now. And I’ve never had that.

Kristin is a hero, not for her battlefield achievements and rows of medals, but for her tenacious struggle to be true to herself. She is a person not defined by her military service or her choice of clothing, but by her vulnerable humanity. It is precisely that humanity that presents so many challenges, challenges that she must often face alone. Talking about first venturing out in public with her new identity, Kristin says:

I was so ill-prepared, and all alone, by myself, I had no backup. There’s no Predator flying over, there’s no helicopters, there’s no rescue team, there was nobody to help me. So I was one hundred percent all alone and totally unprepared.

Lady Valor is a story about one person’s extraordinary journey from the pinnacle of military special operations to a groundbreaking public disclosure about her true self. But it’s also a story applicable to everyone: about how every person is more than simply the events in their life, more than their gender and attractions, more than their friends and family, more than their achievements and failures. Regardless of any of those details, each and every person is deserving of love and respect.

After reading through some of the hate mail she’s continually barraged with, Kristin says:

There needs to be a change, a fundamental change in compassion in our country. I’ve seen so much of this pain and so much of this bullying and it’s not right. I’m a human being. I deserve dignity and respect. I hope that maybe we can start learning to love each other and have more compassion and understanding for the diversity of human beings. It would be a really sucky world if we were all the same. I’m glad I’m different.

I’m glad Kirstin’s different too, and I’m glad she’s allowing her story to advance the cause of compassion and love.

The trailer for Lady Valor:

Dan Wilkinson

Dan is the Executive Editor of the Unfundamentalist Christians blog. He is a writer, graphic designer and IT specialist. He lives in Montana, is married and has two cats.

LGBT

Movie Reviews

kristin beck

Previous Post

February 4, 2015

Strachan & Fischer’s Big Gay Slip’N Slide

Next Post

February 8, 2015 Progressive Christianity won't give you measles

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews Christian History Christian Issues Christian Spirituality Current Events Fundamentalism Islam John Shore LGBT Movie Reviews Poetry Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz