Corporal Gatt Hastings made the decision to transition while in Defence. That was before she knew it would be the best decision of her life.
Ahead of International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) she reflected on her unique journey.
Corporal Hastings enlisted into Air Force in 2018, identifying as a male. For most of her career, Corporal Hastings was away from her wife and family, who remained in Wagga Wagga.
Four years after enlisting, while deployed on Exercise Cope North in Guam, at the age of 30, Corporal Hastings realised that her true gender identity was female.
She knew transitioning was necessary to be her true self, but was filled with many doubts including about her security clearance, career and marriage.
Reflecting on the process of transitioning while serving in the Air Force, Corporal Hastings felt she had always been ready for difficult conversations and uncertain environments, and found support from aviators both in her chain of command and peers.
“I see now that my view on how things would change was out of date; the Defence organisation and my community has moved on to more inclusive ways of supporting gender transition,” Corporal Hastings said.
“At a time with so much uncertainty, I was embraced with a supportive community that made me feel both wanted and included. I was able to maintain continuity through my role and continue to excel.”
Corporal Hastings sees IDAHOBIT as an important day to promote positive representation.
She admits a lack of education and representation in her life had a significant impact on her initial negative thoughts. A lack of positive stories meant she couldn’t see herself having a supportive and positive transition.
“It’s about realising that different people exist, and we all go through hard things, and creating a positive narrative so that we can all see positive representation and community reflection to understand we are not alone in our hard journeys,” she said.
Corporal Hastings welcomes Air Force’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, and considers that actively supporting personnel to bring their whole selves to work, without fear of discrimination, is the foundation for supporting both personnel and organisational capability.
Authenticity helps aviators contribute new and different ways to meet the challenges Defence faces – you can’t be your best self at work if you are hiding part of who you are.
Trans community allies play an important role in helping people feel included, or comfortable. Corporal Hastings found great support in allies, and without them, would not still be providing capability for Defence.
Corporal Hastings hopes more aviators will become allies where positive representation can continue to inspire positivity in transgender education.
