Morgan Givens

And I'd always planned on telling my class about the entirety of who I am, but I wanted them to get the chance to know me first. But apparently, somebody way high up in the police department thought it'd be a good idea to tell everybody and they mama that a trans recruit was going to be in the next class, and that if anybody messed with them, they were going to get fired.

And I'd always planned on telling my class about the entirety of who I am, but I wanted them to get the chance to know me first. But apparently, somebody way high up in the police department thought it'd be a good idea to tell everybody and they mama that a trans recruit was going to be in the next class, and that if anybody messed with them, they were going to get fired.

To a certain extent, I get it. I was never going to be just another recruit, but I was now going to have to out myself a lot sooner than I intended to. I was worried. I was afraid, particularly about this one cat named Winston. Winston smoked cigarettes and chewed tobacco At the same time. Winston was the conservative oil to my liberal water. Winston was going to be a problem.

To a certain extent, I get it. I was never going to be just another recruit, but I was now going to have to out myself a lot sooner than I intended to. I was worried. I was afraid, particularly about this one cat named Winston. Winston smoked cigarettes and chewed tobacco At the same time. Winston was the conservative oil to my liberal water. Winston was going to be a problem.

To a certain extent, I get it. I was never going to be just another recruit, but I was now going to have to out myself a lot sooner than I intended to. I was worried. I was afraid, particularly about this one cat named Winston. Winston smoked cigarettes and chewed tobacco At the same time. Winston was the conservative oil to my liberal water. Winston was going to be a problem.

But I was going to have to speak anyway. So I stood in front of the class. All right, y'all, look, look, listen. The trans person everybody's looking for, it's me. So why don't we just quit this weird game of gendered hide and seek and let it go? And of course, it wasn't going to be that easy. Because I was the first openly trans recruit through the Washington, D.C. Police Academy.

But I was going to have to speak anyway. So I stood in front of the class. All right, y'all, look, look, listen. The trans person everybody's looking for, it's me. So why don't we just quit this weird game of gendered hide and seek and let it go? And of course, it wasn't going to be that easy. Because I was the first openly trans recruit through the Washington, D.C. Police Academy.

But I was going to have to speak anyway. So I stood in front of the class. All right, y'all, look, look, listen. The trans person everybody's looking for, it's me. So why don't we just quit this weird game of gendered hide and seek and let it go? And of course, it wasn't going to be that easy. Because I was the first openly trans recruit through the Washington, D.C. Police Academy.

And I knew they were going to judge every recruit that came after me by the standard I set. Thank God my grandma had laid out the path all those decades before when she was a first. Because I was going to have to walk the same tight rope to perfection that she had all those years ago. I would have to be excellent. I had to be exceptional. And I worked my ass off.

And I knew they were going to judge every recruit that came after me by the standard I set. Thank God my grandma had laid out the path all those decades before when she was a first. Because I was going to have to walk the same tight rope to perfection that she had all those years ago. I would have to be excellent. I had to be exceptional. And I worked my ass off.

And I knew they were going to judge every recruit that came after me by the standard I set. Thank God my grandma had laid out the path all those decades before when she was a first. Because I was going to have to walk the same tight rope to perfection that she had all those years ago. I would have to be excellent. I had to be exceptional. And I worked my ass off.

Stayed up late into the night so I got A's on my exams. I crushed myself in physical training just to prove I could do it. And over time, I could see the way my classmates and training instructors began seeing me as a person first. My class even surprised me. They selected me to give the graduation speech in front of our family and friends, the assistant chiefs, and the chief of police.

Stayed up late into the night so I got A's on my exams. I crushed myself in physical training just to prove I could do it. And over time, I could see the way my classmates and training instructors began seeing me as a person first. My class even surprised me. They selected me to give the graduation speech in front of our family and friends, the assistant chiefs, and the chief of police.

Stayed up late into the night so I got A's on my exams. I crushed myself in physical training just to prove I could do it. And over time, I could see the way my classmates and training instructors began seeing me as a person first. My class even surprised me. They selected me to give the graduation speech in front of our family and friends, the assistant chiefs, and the chief of police.

And after graduation, I got another surprise. It was Winston. He walked up to me, held out his hand, waited for me to take it and locked eyes with me the same way my grandmother had all those years ago. Pulled me close and he said, hey man, you listen here. If anybody messes with you, You let me know, and we're going to handle it.

And after graduation, I got another surprise. It was Winston. He walked up to me, held out his hand, waited for me to take it and locked eyes with me the same way my grandmother had all those years ago. Pulled me close and he said, hey man, you listen here. If anybody messes with you, You let me know, and we're going to handle it.

And after graduation, I got another surprise. It was Winston. He walked up to me, held out his hand, waited for me to take it and locked eyes with me the same way my grandmother had all those years ago. Pulled me close and he said, hey man, you listen here. If anybody messes with you, You let me know, and we're going to handle it.

I could not have been more shocked if I had been struck by a bolt of lightning. Because here was Winston, this man I had been seeing in nothing but hues of black and white, reminding me to see the gray in him I so often demand that others see in me. And Winston showed me just a little piece of his heart, and I got it. Because the heart of the officer matters.

I could not have been more shocked if I had been struck by a bolt of lightning. Because here was Winston, this man I had been seeing in nothing but hues of black and white, reminding me to see the gray in him I so often demand that others see in me. And Winston showed me just a little piece of his heart, and I got it. Because the heart of the officer matters.

I could not have been more shocked if I had been struck by a bolt of lightning. Because here was Winston, this man I had been seeing in nothing but hues of black and white, reminding me to see the gray in him I so often demand that others see in me. And Winston showed me just a little piece of his heart, and I got it. Because the heart of the officer matters.