Sam Rodriguez

You know, people that join the military, they take an oath to uphold the Constitution and to protect the American people. And we also have to take care of them if we're expecting them to then fight for our rights. And so for me, it was serving my country through the service that I give back to the other service members as a mental health provider.

Being in the military, it's a multi-layered system with multi-layers of stress, especially if you're in an operational command and you have a family. So your obligation and work tempo is going to be high. And then you also have to go home and take care of your family and you need to be able to find time to take care of yourself.

Being in the military, it's a multi-layered system with multi-layers of stress, especially if you're in an operational command and you have a family. So your obligation and work tempo is going to be high. And then you also have to go home and take care of your family and you need to be able to find time to take care of yourself.

Being in the military, it's a multi-layered system with multi-layers of stress, especially if you're in an operational command and you have a family. So your obligation and work tempo is going to be high. And then you also have to go home and take care of your family and you need to be able to find time to take care of yourself.

I would argue that we still don't have enough mental health care providers in the military and that we need to do a better job at taking care of the whole service member. Again, if we're going to continue to ask them to do these very hard things and give up time with their family and essentially, you know, put their life on the line, then we also have to make sure that we're taking care of them.

I would argue that we still don't have enough mental health care providers in the military and that we need to do a better job at taking care of the whole service member. Again, if we're going to continue to ask them to do these very hard things and give up time with their family and essentially, you know, put their life on the line, then we also have to make sure that we're taking care of them.

I would argue that we still don't have enough mental health care providers in the military and that we need to do a better job at taking care of the whole service member. Again, if we're going to continue to ask them to do these very hard things and give up time with their family and essentially, you know, put their life on the line, then we also have to make sure that we're taking care of them.

My place in supporting the mission is supporting the people. So I identify as transmasculine, non-binary. So my gender is non-binary. I don't align with being a woman or with a man. I identify as just being a person. And the transmasculine simply just correlates to I am masculine presenting and I have... or I take testosterone.

My place in supporting the mission is supporting the people. So I identify as transmasculine, non-binary. So my gender is non-binary. I don't align with being a woman or with a man. I identify as just being a person. And the transmasculine simply just correlates to I am masculine presenting and I have... or I take testosterone.

My place in supporting the mission is supporting the people. So I identify as transmasculine, non-binary. So my gender is non-binary. I don't align with being a woman or with a man. I identify as just being a person. And the transmasculine simply just correlates to I am masculine presenting and I have... or I take testosterone.

Most outsiders, if they don't know me, they're just going to assume I'm some cis white dude, especially if you see me with my wife and kids. When I first started receiving gender-affirming care, I was working at a command that was very supportive of me, and I had colleagues that were very supportive of me. At around almost 18 months on hormones, I did... switch commands.

Most outsiders, if they don't know me, they're just going to assume I'm some cis white dude, especially if you see me with my wife and kids. When I first started receiving gender-affirming care, I was working at a command that was very supportive of me, and I had colleagues that were very supportive of me. At around almost 18 months on hormones, I did... switch commands.

Most outsiders, if they don't know me, they're just going to assume I'm some cis white dude, especially if you see me with my wife and kids. When I first started receiving gender-affirming care, I was working at a command that was very supportive of me, and I had colleagues that were very supportive of me. At around almost 18 months on hormones, I did... switch commands.

So I returned back to C, which in the Navy, that means that you return back to a deployable command or a command that will deploy. And it was a very small command. And I was the first person, the first trans person that any of of any of the people that worked there had ever interacted with or worked with. So there was definitely a lot of growing pains during that three and a half years.

So I returned back to C, which in the Navy, that means that you return back to a deployable command or a command that will deploy. And it was a very small command. And I was the first person, the first trans person that any of of any of the people that worked there had ever interacted with or worked with. So there was definitely a lot of growing pains during that three and a half years.

So I returned back to C, which in the Navy, that means that you return back to a deployable command or a command that will deploy. And it was a very small command. And I was the first person, the first trans person that any of of any of the people that worked there had ever interacted with or worked with. So there was definitely a lot of growing pains during that three and a half years.

And honestly, there were times where I felt like many of my colleagues never respected my identity. They likely still just saw me as like a butch lesbian. But after I left that command and I got to the command that I'm at now, up until recently, no one knew any differently. You know, I showed up there and have been assumed male.

And honestly, there were times where I felt like many of my colleagues never respected my identity. They likely still just saw me as like a butch lesbian. But after I left that command and I got to the command that I'm at now, up until recently, no one knew any differently. You know, I showed up there and have been assumed male.

And honestly, there were times where I felt like many of my colleagues never respected my identity. They likely still just saw me as like a butch lesbian. But after I left that command and I got to the command that I'm at now, up until recently, no one knew any differently. You know, I showed up there and have been assumed male.

And unless I feel comfortable or safe to tell someone, they don't know any different. They don't know that I'm trans.