Kristin Beck, a former member of Navy SEAL Team 6, told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Thursday night that she feared being killed if she revealed her gender identity.
As a member of the elite military team, she was known as Chris Beck and carefully concealed the fact that she was transgender. She recently came out in a new memoir entitled Warrior Princess.
Beck said some of her colleagues would have likely supported her if she revealed her gender identity. But she also feared other would wish to do her harm and possibly even try to kill her.
"That's a fear I have right now," she told Cooper. "There is a lot of prejudice out there. There have been a lot of transgender people who are killed."
Having come out, Beck said she received a mixture of amazing support and amazing bigotry.
"You don't have to like me," she added. "I don't care, but please don't kill me."
Beck concluded the interview by saying that she, "fought for 20 years for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness -- I want some happiness."
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