Chris Beck (Navy SEAL)

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Chris Beck
Chris Beck, Navy SEAL.jpg
Beck in September 2011
Birth nameChristopher Todd Beck [1]
Born (1966-06-21) June 21, 1966 (age 58)
Long Island, New York, U.S.
AllegianceFlag of the United States.svg United States of America
Service/branchFlag of the United States Navy (official).svg  United States Navy
Years of service1990–2011
Rank SCPO GC.png Senior chief petty officer
Unit United States Navy Special Warfare insignia.png United States Navy SEALs
Awards Bronze Star ribbon.svg Bronze Star with Combat Distinguishing Device
Purple Heart BAR.svg Purple Heart
Defense Meritorious Service ribbon.svg Defense Meritorious Service Medal (2)
Other workAuthor

Christopher Todd Beck [1] (born June 21, 1966) is a retired United States Navy SEAL who gained public attention in 2013 after coming out as a trans woman, and in 2022, when he announced his detransition. During the time of his transition, he went by the name Kristin Beck. A memoir detailing his experience was published in June 2013, Warrior Princess: A U.S. Navy SEAL's Journey to Coming out Transgender. [2] He served in the U.S. Navy for twenty years. In December 2022, Beck announced that he had detransitioned because "it ruined my life" and due to his conversion to Christianity. [3] [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Beck grew up on a farm. As early as the age of five, he was drawn to feminine clothes and toys, but was encouraged to adopt masculine roles by his parents. [5] Before transitioning, he married twice and has two sons from his first marriage. [6] [7] He recounts in his memoir how his gender dysphoria contributed to his inability to emotionally mature while being in a male body, adding conflict to his sexual identity, although he never really felt gay. [8] Additionally, his duties as a U.S. Navy SEAL kept him on missions away from home, which distanced him from family members. [8] Before enlisting in the United States Navy, Beck attended Virginia Military Institute from 1984 through 1987. [9]

Career

United States Navy

Beck served for 20 years in the U.S. Navy SEALs, [10] taking part in 13 deployments, including seven combat deployments. Beck completed Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training with class 179 in 1991 and subsequently served with SEAL Team One. Following SEAL Tactical Training (STT) and completion of six month probationary period, Beck received the Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) 5326 as a Combatant Swimmer (SEAL), entitled to wear the Special Warfare Insignia. Beck eventually served as a member of the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group (also known as DEVGRU), a special counter-terrorism unit popularly called SEAL Team Six, and received multiple military awards and decorations, including a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. [11] He told Anderson Cooper he wanted to be a SEAL because they were the "toughest of the tough". [12]

Beck retired from the Navy in 2011 with final rating as Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator when he began transitioning by dressing as a woman. In 2013, he began hormone therapy, preparing himself for sex reassignment surgery. [13] During an interview with Anderson Cooper in early June 2013, he stated that he never came out during his military career and that "No one ever met the real me". [12] After coming out publicly in 2013 by posting a photo of himself as a woman on LinkedIn, he received a number of messages of support from his former military colleagues. [14]

Warrior Princess

Beck said that his private therapy sessions were exploited by this therapist. [15] Beck co-wrote Warrior Princess with Anne Speckhard, [16] a psychologist at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. Speckhard was doing a study on resilience of the U.S. Navy SEALs, that is, the coping mechanisms employed by SEALs to deal with their intense job demands. Speckhard first met Beck at a counter-terrorism conference. [2] After Beck agreed to discuss coping mechanisms, a follow-up meeting took place in a gay bar, with Beck now dressed in feminine attire, to Speckhard's surprise. A five-hour meeting led to Speckhard agreeing to help Beck write his life story. [5]

In the book, Speckhard notes that Beck had a desire to die honorably "so that he wouldn't have to wrestle anymore with the emotional pain that stemmed from the lack of congruency between his gender identity and body". [17] In his introduction to the book, Beck writes:

I do not believe a soul has a gender, but my new path is making my soul complete and happy... I hope my journey sheds some light on the human experience and most importantly helps heal the "socio-religious dogma" of a purely binary gender. [17]

OutServe Magazine praised the book, calling it "one of the smartest and most important books of the year". [18] The Huffington Post noted that while the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was repealed in 2011, the ban on openly transgender people serving in the U.S. armed forces still remained. [17] Days before the release of Warrior Princess, Metro Weekly's Poliglot column reported that the Pentagon had celebrated LGBT Pride Month in a memo while avoiding mention of transgender military personnel; the Pentagon memo read in part: "We recognize gay, lesbian and bisexual service members and LGBT civilians for their dedicated service to our country." [19] The Atlantic Wire said that the book could "lay the groundwork for even greater inclusion in the armed forces" and Salon stated that Beck's military credentials may "lead the Pentagon to revisit its policy against trans service members". [20] [21] While restrictions on sexual orientation were lifted in 2010–2011, restrictions on gender identity remained in place due to Department of Defense regulations until 2016, when the Obama administration ended the ban on transgender Americans serving in the military. [22]

Lady Valor

Lady Valor: The Kristin Beck Story, a documentary, aired on CNN on September 4, 2014. [23] [24] Earlier during LGBT Pride Month on June 18, 2014, at the Defense Intelligence Agency, Beck received a plaque from retired Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn when he led the DIA as its Director. [25] [26]

Congressional campaign

In August 2015, CNN said that Beck was running for Congress to represent Maryland's 5th congressional district. [27] Beck finished second behind Representative Steny Hoyer in the Democratic primary election on April 26, 2016. [28]

Media appearances

Beck appeared on the Dr. Phil Show in 2015. [29] He has also been interviewed by Anderson Cooper on CNN. [12]

On June 1, 2022, he appeared on an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. [30] On December 1, 2022, Beck stated in a video interview with Robby Starbuck that he had detransitioned. [3] [31] [4]

Detransition

In December 2022, Beck announced his detransition and said he had "lived in hell for the past 10 years" and that it had been roughly seven years since he last took hormones. [32] [33] Beck has since appeared in the media urging those under 25 not to transition. In an interview he gave with conservative influencer Robby Starbuck, Beck contrasted the beliefs of the LGBTQ community with his own belief in Jesus and God and discussed his desire to convert people away from being transgender by witnessing his own Christian conversion. [32] [34] [35] [36]

Beck said he was offered hormones after an hour-long meeting at a Veterans Affairs medical facility. He said that he had "so much going wrong" in his system when he started taking cross-sex hormones. He also claimed that it is "a billion dollar industry between psychologists, between surgeries, between hormones, between chemicals, between follow-up treatments" and that there are "thousands of gender clinics popping up all over" America and each one is "going to be pulling in probably over $50 million". [37]

However, Beck's recent accounts to conservative media outlets, claiming the Veteran Affairs medical facility "offered hormones after an hour-long meeting," directly contradict the earlier accounts provided in the book, Warrior Princess, which Beck coauthored with Dr. Anne Speckhard. The book was published in 2013, and according to its account, "Chris had asked for hormones at the VA (Veterans Administration) and he'd taken many steps now to begin his transition into womanhood: laser removal of the hair on his face, arms and chest, collagen treatments for his cheekbones [...] But it was frustrating and slow moving to make the transition into a female body.  The VA wanted to go slow as they worked toward a solution for hormone treatment because while Chris had been living privately as a woman for nearly two years, he had not transitioned at work.  They wanted to be cautious in supporting his change, demanding that he "come out" as female in every aspect of his life before they began hormone treatments or offered surgical solutions." (136)  [38] And later on, Chris is quoted saying, "I have to have hormones soon! I can get them on the black market, but they are dangerous and I want to do it under a doctor's care.  But at the VA they want me to wait a year!  They said I have to have been going to work as a woman, as well as dressing at home, for a whole year! They don't understand what a big deal it is for me-- as a Navy Seal-- to come out at work.  I finally did it today" (165-166). [2] According to Warrior Princess, it's only after Chris comes out at work, starts living full time, and also updates the gender marker on Chris's ID, that "In a few weeks time, Kris met her doctor at the VA and was started on hormones" (203). [39]  

Evan Urquhart, writing for Slate , described Beck as having detransitioned due to his newfound moral and ideological beliefs. Urquhart criticized Reuters for profiling Beck's detransition without mentioning that according to Beck's interview with Starbuck, his detransition coincided with embracing conservative Christian views, including that by transitioning he "destroyed everything in my life that was holy, [and that] the temple of God is our bodies". [34]

Awards and decorations

See also

Related Research Articles

Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to a mismatch between their gender identity—their personal sense of their own gender—and their sex assigned at birth. The term replaced the previous diagnostic label of gender identity disorder (GID) in 2013 with the release of the diagnostic manual DSM-5. The condition was renamed to remove the stigma associated with the term disorder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trans man</span> Man assigned female at birth

A trans man is a man who was assigned female at birth. Trans men have a male gender identity, and many trans men undergo medical and social transition to alter their appearance in a way that aligns with their gender identity or alleviates gender dysphoria.

Gender transition is the process of changing one's gender presentation or sex characteristics to accord with one's internal sense of gender identity – the idea of what it means to be a man or a woman, or to be non-binary, genderqueer, bigender, or pangender, or to be agender (genderless). For transgender and transsexual people, this process commonly involves reassignment therapy, with their gender identity being opposite that of their birth-assigned sex. Transitioning might involve medical treatment, but it does not always involve it. Cross-dressers, drag queens, and drag kings tend not to transition, since their variant gender presentations are generally only adopted temporarily.

Warrior Princess may refer to:

In the context of gender, passing is when someone is perceived as a gender they identify as or are attempting to be seen as, rather than their sex assigned at birth. Historically, this was common among women who served in occupations where women were prohibited, such as in combat roles in the military. For transgender people, it is when the person is perceived as cisgender instead of the sex they were assigned at birth. The person may, for example, be a transgender man who is perceived as a cisgender man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender</span> Gender identity other than sex assigned at birth

A transgender person is someone whose gender identity differs from that typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. Some transgender people who desire medical assistance to transition from one sex to another identify as transsexual. Transgender is also an umbrella term; in addition to including people whose gender identity is the opposite of their assigned sex, it may also include people who are non-binary or genderqueer. Other definitions of transgender also include people who belong to a third gender, or else conceptualize transgender people as a third gender. The term may also include cross-dressers or drag kings and drag queens in some contexts. The term transgender does not have a universally accepted definition, including among researchers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transsexual</span> People experiencing a gender identity inconsistent with their assigned sex

A transsexual person is someone who experiences a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desires to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance to help them align their body with their identified sex or gender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Sallans</span> Transgender speaker

Ryan Sallans is an American LGBT author, speaker, advocate and out trans man. Sallans began his transition in 2005. He travels the United States speaking to professionals, college audiences, and youth about gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation along with his story of being transgender and the changing nature of health care.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eli Erlick</span> American activist and writer (born 1995)

Eli Erlick is an American activist, writer, academic, trans woman and founder of the organization Trans Student Educational Resources.

Detransition is the cessation or reversal of a transgender identification or of gender transition, temporarily or permanently, through social, legal, and/or medical means. The term is distinct from the concept of 'regret', and the decision may be based on a shift in gender identity, or other reasons, such as health concerns, social or economic pressure, discrimination, stigma, political beliefs, or religious beliefs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual orientation and gender identity in the United States military</span> LGBT in the US military

In the past most lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) personnel had major restrictions placed on them in terms of service in the United States military. As of 2010 sexual orientation and gender identity in the United States military varies greatly as the United States Armed Forces have become increasingly openly diverse in the regards of LGBTQ people and acceptance towards them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Department of Defense Instruction 1300.28</span> U.S. memorandum limiting transgender service in the military

Directive-type Memorandum-19-004, "Military Service by Transgender Persons and Persons with Gender Dysphoria", was a memorandum issued by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) prohibiting most transgender individuals from serving or enlisting in the United States Armed Forces and the DoD. The DTM took effect on April 12, 2019, under the presidency of Donald Trump, signed by David Norquist. Originally scheduled to expire on March 12, 2020, it was extended until September 12, 2020. Before it expired, it was replaced by Department of Defense Instruction 1300.28, which took effect on September 4, 2020, signed by Matthew Donovan.

Bibliography of works on the United States military and LGBT+ topics is a list of non-fiction literary works on the subject of the United States Armed Forces and LGBT+ subjects. LGBT+ includes any types of people which may be considered "Queer"; in other words, homosexual people, bisexual people, transgender people, intersex people, androgynous people, cross-dressers, questioning people and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Turban</span> American psychiatrist, writer and commentator

Jack L. Turban is an American psychiatrist, writer, and commentator who researches the mental health of transgender youth. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, CNN, Scientific American, and Vox. He is an assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at The University of California San Francisco and affiliate faculty in health policy at The Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walt Heyer</span> Detransitioned anti-LGBT activist (born 1940)

Walt Heyer is an American author, activist and speaker who underwent gender reassignment and lived for eight years as a trans woman before detransitioning in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torrey Peters</span> American author

Torrey Peters is an American author. Her debut novel, Detransition, Baby, has received mainstream and critical success. The novel was nominated for the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesse Singal</span> American journalist

Jesse Singal is an American journalist. He has written for publications including New York magazine, The New York Times and The Atlantic. Singal also publishes a newsletter on Substack and hosts a podcast, Blocked and Reported, with journalist Katie Herzog.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chloe Cole</span> American activist (born 2004)

Chloe Cole is an American activist who opposes gender-affirming care for minors and supports bans on such care following her own detransition. She has appeared with conservative politicians and in the media, supporting and advocating for such bans. Cole says that she began transitioning at 12 and detransitioned at 17 after having undergone treatment which included puberty blockers, testosterone, and a double mastectomy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ky Schevers</span> American transgender rights activist

Ky Schevers is an American transgender rights activist. She was assigned female at birth, but gradually transitioned to male, including medical transition at the age of 20. Five years after, she detransitioned to female. She became prominent among the detransitioned community and for writing and making online videos about the gender transition and detransition process under the pen names Crash or CrashChaosCats. Another nine years after detransitioning, Schevers broke with the detransitioned community over its attacks on gender transition in general, and began to retransition. She now identifies as transmasculine and genderqueer, but using feminine pronouns, and she co-leads "Health Liberation Now!", an organization defending transgender rights.

References

  1. 1 2 "CNN.com – Transcripts". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Beck, Kristin; Speckhard, Anne (2013). Warrior Princess: A U.S. Navy SEAL's Journey to Coming out Transgender. Advances Press. ISBN   9781935866428. Archived from the original on 2018-03-12. Retrieved 2013-06-10.
  3. 1 2 Starbuck, Robby (December 1, 2022). "The Real Story with Chris Beck – Trans Navy SEAL Detransitions, Warns Young People & Exposes The VA!". The Robby Starbuck Show (Podcast). Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Former Navy SEAL Trans Poster Boy Announces DeTransition: 'Transgender Ideology Is Cultish'". CBN News. 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  5. 1 2 Grove, Lloyd (6 Jun 2013). "Kristin Beck, the SEALs' Warrior Princess Who Came Out as Transgender". The Daily Beast . Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  6. ↑ Doug Stanglin (5 June 2013). "A Navy SEAL's biggest secret: Life as a transgender". USA Today. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  7. ↑ Thompson, Jakki (16 July 2013). "Transgender Navy SEAL speaks out in moving memoir". Kansas State, The Collegian. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  8. 1 2 Kristin Beck & Anne Speckhard (8 June 2013). "I'm the transgender Navy SEAL: I'm Kristin Beck now. As Chris, I risked my life on countless SEAL missions – all while trying to hide who I am". Excerpted from "Warrior Princess: A U.S. Navy SEAL's Journey to Coming Out Transgender". Salon.com. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  9. ↑ "Knights Out Announces Kristin Beck as Gala Dinner Speaker". Knights Out. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "The US Navy Seal who went from Chris to Kristin". BBC News. 2013-07-31. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  11. ↑ Doug Standlin (4 June 2013). "A Navy SEAL's biggest secret: Life as a transgender". USA Today. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 Anderson Cooper (June 6, 2013). "Anderson Cooper's exclusive interview with transgender former Navy SEAL Kristen Beck pt. I". CNN. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  13. ↑ Ferran, Lee (3 June 2013). "Transgender Navy SEAL 'Warrior Princess' Comes Out". ABC News . Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  14. ↑ Vittorio Hernandez (June 6, 2013). "Former Navy SEAL Member Shares Sex Change Journey in Warrior Princess Memoir". International Business Times. Archived from the original on June 14, 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  15. ↑ Chris Beck and Shawn Ryan. (March 6, 2023). Chris / Kristin Beck - Transgender Navy SEAL Transitions To Woman Then Back To Man SRS #50 . Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Warrior Princess – Anne Speckhard" . Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  17. 1 2 3 Cavan Sieczkowski (June 4, 2013). "Kristin Beck, Transgender Navy SEAL, Comes Out In New Book". The Huffington Post . Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  18. ↑ Katie Miller (June 4, 2013). "OutServe Magazine Praises Memoir of Transgender Navy SEAL". OutServe Magazine . Archived from the original on June 13, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  19. ↑ Justin Snow (June 3, 2013). "Pentagon marks LGBT Pride Month while omitting trans servicemembers". Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on October 18, 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  20. ↑ J.K. Trotter (Jun 3, 2013). "The Latest Navy SEAL Book Could Impact the Military's Transgender Rules". The Atlantic Wire. Archived from the original on June 14, 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  21. ↑ Katie Mcdonough (June 3, 2013). "SEAL Team 6 veteran comes out as transgender". Salon. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  22. ↑ "DoD Transgender Policy Changes". Self. 2016-06-30. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  23. ↑ JustCuriosity (29 November 2014). "Lady Valor: The Kristin Beck Story (2014)". IMDb. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  24. ↑ "Transgender SEAL is subject of CNN documentary". The Virginian-Pilot. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  25. ↑ Cleary, Tom (2017-07-26). "Kristin Beck: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
  26. ↑ Bushatz, Amy (2017-10-31). "Transgender Navy SEAL Applies for Job in Trump Administration". Military.com. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
  27. ↑ S.E. Cupp; Jeremy Moorhead (11 August 2015). "Transgender Navy SEAL running for Congress". CNN.
  28. ↑ "Official 2016 Presidential Primary Election results for Representative in Congress". 31 May 2016.
  29. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : "Former Navy Seal Explains Growing Up Transgender – Dr. Phil". YouTube .
  30. ↑ "Joe Rogan Experience #1827 – Kristin Beck, June 1, 2022. Retrieved Dec. 7, 2022
  31. ↑ "Famoso "trans" dice que ya no lo es y pide no dar hormonas a niños". 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  32. 1 2 MacKinnon, Kinnon; Valdes, Leo (2023-01-18). "Take Detransitioners Seriously". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  33. ↑ Ghosh, R. (2022-12-12). "Who Is Chris Beck? Retired Navy SEAL Who Came Out as Transgender is Transitioning Back after Calling Sex Change 'Worst Mistake of My Life'". International Business Times. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  34. 1 2 Urquhart, Evan (2023-01-21). "Trans "Detransition" Is Real. But It's Not the Crisis Many Seem to Think". Slate (magazine). Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  35. ↑ Urquhart, Evan (January 18, 2023). "The Atlantic Provides a Misleading Picture of Detransition". Assigned Media. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  36. ↑ "Ex-Navy SEAL who came out as trans says he's again identifying as male". Olean Times Herald. December 13, 2022. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  37. ↑ Colton, Emma (2022-12-11). "Retired Navy SEAL Chris Beck, who came out as trans, announces detransition: 'destroyed my life'". Fox News . Retrieved 2023-02-11.
  38. ↑ Beck, Kristin (2013). Warrior princess: a U.S. Navy Seal's journey to coming out transgender. McLean, VA: Advances Press. ISBN   978-1-935866-42-8.
  39. ↑ Beck, Kristin (2013). Warrior princess: a U.S. Navy Seal's journey to coming out transgender. McLean, VA: Advances Press. ISBN   978-1-935866-42-8.
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