Last week the United States President tweeted a series of incredibly transphobic tweets stating that transgender people are not allowed to serve in the military. He said its because ...the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.

Being a transgender person myself, when I woke up on July 26th and saw the tweets I was infuriated. I felt dehumanized and invalidated by my own country. Honestly, I cried for a few days as I read stories about transgender troops who were still proud to wear their uniforms even after hearing what the President said. The transgender community is resilient like that. We always were and we always will be.

The Williams Institute estimates that there are 134,300 transgender veterans. I was lucky enough to sit down with Audrey Beauregard to talk about the Presidents tweets and to get the perspective from someone who is so connected with the subject. Audrey joined the Navy in 2009, served for 6 years and was honorably discharged in 2015. She achieved the rank of E-5 also known as Petty Officer Second Class. The rating she chose and excelled at was Cryptologic Technician Technical (CTT). When asked what her favorite part of serving our country was she replied Honestly, learning various skills and experiencing things I'd never get to as a civilian otherwise. But also towards the end of my time in I served in a capacity that protected civilian and military units alike.