Transgender Former Navy SEAL Speaks With Anderson Cooper

Kristin Beck, the first out transgender Navy Seal, sat down with Anderson Cooper for an interview. "I fought for 20 years for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I want some happiness."

Kristen Beck is the first out transgender Navy Seal:

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Beck, who has been awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart, has been deployed 13 times, serving in places such as Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq. She did not come out as transgender until 2011, after she had completed her service, due to the fact transgender men and women are currently banned from service in the military.

"No one ever met the real me," she says about the years she spent in the military. She kept this secret buried deep, even from the men and women she trusted her life with.

Last week, she released her book Warrior Princess, which details her personal coming out story.

For her, becoming a Seal was becoming a part of the “toughest of the tough.”

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She sat down with Anderson Cooper to discuss her coming out process:

She revealed that part of the reason she became a Seal was in hopes it would make her feminine side "disappear."

Beck says she was afraid if her secret got out while she was serving she might have been killed. It's a fear she still deals with:

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Kristen notes that her coming out is only the beginning of the journey:

Watch both segments of the interview: