Ms. Randi Allison Barnabee - Ohio - MTF
USCG - Aug 8 1978-Apr 4 1998 - O3
Military nick: Mr. B.
self-identified in service: Yes
Out since: Apr 1998 - Coming Out: 7
honors & citations: Meritorious Service Medal, Coast Guard Achievement Medal, Army Aviator (Pilot) Wings,
Coast Guard Commandant's Letter of Commendation
Bio: I began to realize that I was transsexual about the same time I entered law school for the Coast
Guard. In one sense, knowing that about myself helped me begin putting many aspects of my life - past and
(then) present - into better perspective. On the other hand, it was terrifying to suddenly realize that by
virtue of my gender identity I was now an outsider - a gender outlaw - working for our country's most institutionally
homophobic employer.
By the time I was finishing up with law school, I was certain that I was a MtF transsexual. In fact, I had
been diagnosed as such by experts, but I took no active steps toward transitioning from male to female because
I did not want to risk my military career. Ultimately, I contacted the Coast Guard's employee assistance program
(EAP) and asked them to inquire anonymously as to what the Coast Guard's position would be if a highly trained
officer were to transition on active duty. The Coast Guard's response was abysmal.
According to the Coast Guard the only way I could transition and avoid automatic administrative separation,
without benefits, would be if I could leave work one day and come back the next fully (including surgically)
transitioned. Furthermore, if I had ANY post-op complications whatsoever I would be separated - despite the
fact that other females are not likewise subject to automatic separation from service for identical problems.
Up to the point that I began law school I had been something of a rising star in the Coast Guard. None of
that seemed to matter, nor did it matter that as a Coast Guard attorney my gender had no bearing on my job
or my assignability.
Around the same time the Coast Guard changed its military medical policies to match those of the DOD military
branches and, as a result, I could no longer take the antidepressant medications I had been on for the past
few years and still remain on active duty. I was medically discharged on April 4, 1998, for reasons unrelated
to my gender identity, at which point I began my full-time transition from male to female.
I am proud of my military service. It is unfortunate that the military can still engage in sex stereotyping
(the notion that men must act one way, women must act another way, and one must remain the sex they were assigned
at birth) in its personnel decisions when there is no justification for it in the rest of our workforce. As
a civil rights attorney representing the LGBT population, I hope to have a hand in ridding the military of
this shameful and dishonorable practice.
