- I went up in front of my commander, and the doctor,
and a whole bunch of people, and I said, I'm transgender.
Please let me keep my job.
(mellow music)
(shoes clicking)
- Hi, I'm Jules.
- Hi, I'm Katie.
- Hi Katie, nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
Do you know what we're here to talk about?
- I don't know, like, things?
- [Katie] Things, stuff?
- You have a dangerous job or do you have like
a normal job that someone would--
- That's why I'm in the Army.
- Wow, nice, do you like it?
- I love it, I love being in the Army.
- I have a cousin that's in the Marines, too.
- Oh, yeah? - Yeah.
- Would you like to be in the military?
- Uh, probably not (chuckling).
- So you know I'm in the military.
Do you know what else?
- No. - Do you know what it means
to be transgender?
- Mm-mm.
- No?
It means that you were a boy, or a girl,
and you changed, you transitioned, from one to the other.
- You changed to like a different one?
- Mm-hmm.
(mellow music)
- Wow.
- What do you think about that?
- Well, it seems pretty, like, surprising,
'cause I don't really know anybody like that,
or they haven't told me that they are.
Is it kind of like how people,
like a boy could like a girl color?
- It's not, really.
'Cause there are a lot of boys who like the color pink.
There are boys who play with Barbies and stuff,
and that doesn't make them girls.
A lot of them are happy being boys.
They just are boys who like--
- Girlie things. - Who like girlie things.
And that's not quite the same thing.
- Do you like boy things, or do you like girl things?
- I like Army things.
(chuckling)
I like wearing makeup, I like wearing dresses,
but that's not what makes me a girl.
It's more about who you know you are, inside.
Do you really think there's like boy colors and girl colors?
- No.
- [Katie ] Not really?
- 'Cause, I mean, I kind of like purple.
I change my hair color every year.
(Katie chuckling)
It's-- - Me too.
- (chuckling) I don't know
who even made like girl colors or boy colors.
It just doesn't make any sense.
I think you can do whatever you want
and you can like whatever you want.
- I agree.
- How long did it take for your transition?
- I started transitioning about four years ago.
I started taking hormones, about three and a half years ago.
Which is basically, just a couple little pills.
A few every day.
It makes your body do what it would normally do
if I was just born a girl from the beginning.
- Oh, okay.
What if you never, ever transition?
Would you like, well, how would you feel?
- If I never transitioned?
- Yeah. - I would not feel very good.
I tried, for a whole lotta years
to live without transitioning.
I didn't know if I would lose friends.
I didn't know how I'd be treated.
I didn't know if I could keep my job.
- Why did you think you were gonna get fired?
- Well, back when I first came out,
the rules still said that you couldn't be transgender,
and be in the military.
- When the Army found out that you were transgender,
and then they were, they were okay about it,
how did you feel?
- (soft chuckling) That was a very good day,
'cause the doctor told me,
"You have to tell them, or I will."
If the doctor did it,
then the Army was probably not gonna let me stay in,
because then they know, okay, you're hiding something.
So, I went and told.
I was pretty scared, because I love my job.
I love being in the Army.
I like being a soldier.
The thought of not being able
to do that anymore, that's, it's scary.
- Do people treat you bad, just for that?
- Sometimes, you get people who (sighing)
have very strong opinions (chuckling).
Some people don't like it.
Some people don't understand it.
So, sometimes you get people who are bullies.
- It's a person, a person, no matter, you know, anything.
- That's awesome.
- I have a friend, who was born different,
and he was just like a normal person,
so I treat him like a normal person.
It's just weird to pick on people who are different.
Who aren't really different, they're just people, you know?
- Yep.
- Everyone doesn't have to be the same.
- That's awesome.
(Jules chuckling)
- Bye Katie.
- Bye, it was great to meet you.
- Great to meet you, too.
Good luck. - You too.
(Jules chuckling)
I'm Katherine Schmidt, thank you for watching Kids Meet.
If you wanna learn more about me,
and transgender service members,
check the link below.
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and watch more Kids Meet videos.