After 20 years in the military and as part of the SEAL unit that went on to kill Osama bin Laden, Kristen Beck has come out as transgender in a new memoir, "Warrior Princess."
The book, to be published Tuesday according to The Atlantic, tells how Beck finally decided to transition to female after retiring from the Navy in 2011.
What makes this story especially important is that the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell does not include allowing openly transgender people to serve in the military. But when a soldier in the elite, and tough, Navy SEALs comes out, people have to listen. And it appears fellow soldiers are on board.
Beck said the news of her being transgender was greeted warmly by her fellow SEAL soldiers:
Soon, the responses from SEALs stationed all around the world suddenly started pouring in: "Brother, I am with you ... being a SEAL is hard, this looks harder. Peace" * "I can't say I understand the decision but I respect the courage. Peace and happiness be upon you...Jim" * " ... I just wanted to drop you a note and tell you that Kris has all the support and respect from me that Chris had ... and quite possibly more. While I'm definitely surprised, I'm also in amazement at the strength you possess and the courage necessary to combat the strangers and 'friends' that I'm guessing have reared their ugly heads prior to and since your announcement. ..."
In case you don't keep up with memes or waste, er, spend time lurking on Reddit, you may have missed the craze that has swept the nation for, like, two weeks — the Harlem Shake.
Thousands of 30-second videos have been made to the song "Harlem Shake" by electronic musician Baauer, including a few in Georgia, y'all. The music is catchier than any ... oh, I don't know. I'm a lesbian. I don't know any pop music references. But please, ask me about the difference in taste between bland lite sour cream and the really good, fatty sour cream.