EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been corrected from its original transmission to correct a misspelling of her name and correct her Navy rank.
PORT ANGELES — The 2015 Esprit Conference will honor veterans this year with a veterans’ breakfast and a special guest speaker at Saturday’s noon luncheon — a transgender former Navy SEAL.
Retired Senor Chief Kristin Beck will arrive Friday and will be the keynote speaker for the luncheon at the annual transgender conference.
“She has become a nationally prominent spokesperson championing the rights of transgender individuals to proudly service in the United States Armed Forces,” said Barbara Anne Love, 71, a member of the Esprit 2015 Planning Committee.
The veterans’ breakfast is for Esprit members only, but visitors are welcome at the luncheon to hear the former SEAL speak, Love said.
Seating is limited.
Visitors may purchase a meal at the luncheon or join the group after the meal for free to hear Beck’s talk, she said.
Those who want to attend Beck’s speech should contact the Esprit registration desk by noon Friday at Red Lion Hotel to make reservations.
Beck, known as “Lady Valor,” served as a SEAL for 20 years as Christopher Beck.
He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart during combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Upon retiring from the Navy in 2011, Beck began transitioning to life as a woman.
She is a nationally known transgender spokesperson, wrote an autobiography on her military experiences, “Warrior Princess,” and starred in a movie, “Lady Valor,” based on the book. Her website: http://www.theladyvalor.com/ .
Beck lives in Maryland and is currently running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Esprit Conference meets all this week, mostly at the Red Lion.
It is one of the nation’s largest transgender events and has been held in Port Angeles for the past 25 years.
There are about 150 people attending this year’s conference, most of them from the United States and Canada.
Love said current estimates conservatively place the U.S. transgender population at 700,000.
Some are “late bloomers,” while others found the desire to live as member of the opposite sex in early childhood, she said.
“While 8 percent of the U.S. population is comprised of military veterans, 16 percent of Esprit’s members are veterans,” she said.
Love said that in some cases those young children who were pressured to conform to masculine standards may have joined the military as an overcompensation to fit in — while for others, military service was simply an expression of a patriotic desire to serve their country.
A large number of Esprit veterans were attracted to high-tech jobs in the military, such as aviation technology, she said.
For a full schedule and more information about Esprit, go to www.espritconf.com.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
