Transgender woman Andrea Halliley, 52, served in the military under the sex she was assigned at birth but kept her true identity hidden.
The parent-of-three came out as trans to her family when she retired from her career as an infantry soldier in February 2015, and later split from her wife.
Now living openly as a transgender woman in Crook, Durham, she likes to be known as Andi and works as a delivery driver.
But recently, she has also been signed up to work with a modelling agency.
Andi said: ‘When I first came out to my (now ex) wife, I told her I was a crossdresser – I had never heard of the term ‘transgender’ before.
‘My ex-wife did some research and told me about transgender people, and it was like a lightbulb moment, we both knew that’s what I really was.
‘We have split up since but on amicable terms, it’s just that she didn’t marry a woman and that’s fine.’
Andi joined the military in 1985 and served in the infantry for the next 30 years, rising to the rank of Colour Sergeant, touring in Bosnia, Northern Ireland and Iraq.
Despite forming close friendships with her military colleagues, nobody knew that she identified as a woman.
Andi had been aware that she identified as a female ever since she was little, but suppressed how she felt.
She explained: ‘The military is very macho, especially in the infantry. I think I was trying to prove I was macho as well, but it was very difficult living a secret life in such an overtly male environment.
‘It was difficult living with your own secret war inside your head.’
Feeling most like her true self when in women’s clothes, Andi would secretly buy female items from nearby shops and smuggle them into her room.
Despite her concerns with the infantry being a macho male environment, Andi says she was surprised and taken aback by how welcoming her former colleagues were.
She said: ‘Regardless of their reaction, I wasn’t going to hide who I am anymore, but it was nice to have that support and acceptance.’
Her modelling career began at an alternative burlesque show when she got chatting to a woman who suggested Andi audition for The Alternative Model of the Year Contest.
Andi entered the competition for the first time in 2017, and has made it to the catwalk final of the contest for the past three years in a row.
She fell in love with the modelling world and after taking part in multiple photoshoots, Andi was signed by the agency Rogue Model Management.
‘It is amazing to think how much my life has changed since leaving the army and embracing being transgender,’ she said.
‘Five years ago, I was wearing combats every day, pretending to be this big macho man all day before secretly hiding in my room wearing girly clothes in fear.
‘Now, I’m strutting down runways in feminine clothes and posing for cameras as a proud transgender woman.
‘I’m just so happy I finally decided to come out and show people the real me, and I’ll never hide that side of me ever again.’
Andi got a job as a delivery driver and is currently in the middle of the lengthy NHS process to be helped by a gender identity clinic.
Her GP referred her to the NHS gender identity service but she is still waiting for an appointment.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/01/19/transgender-soldier-who-served-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-starts-modelling-12082954/
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