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Outlook: My Double Life as a Trans Airman

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The Secret Life of a Trans-Gender Airman.  Credit Rebecca Hendin

25/07/2016 GMT

My Double Life as a Trans Airman

BBC World Service - Outlook, My Double Life as a Trans Airman

'Jane' is a United States Air Force airman living a secret life as a transgender woman

The American airman living a secret life as a transgender woman, and the indigenous Paraguayan woman who escaped a life of domestic slavery.

'Jane' is an American Air Force airman who has flown in every major conflict since the first Gulf War. She was brought up as a boy, and her colleagues still regard her as male, but off base she has secretly been transitioning to female for many years. Rules banning trans people in the military have been lifted, but Jane is still forced to keep her gender a secret, fearing for her job.  

Jack Mapanje has been described as one of the most important African poets writing in English today. He is best known for the poetry inspired by his three and a half years in prison in Malawi in the late 80s, during the dictatorship of Hastings Banda. He was never charged. And after being released, Jack came to live in the UK, and raised a family. His latest collection of poetry, Greetings from Grandpa, is dedicated to his children and grandchildren for "calming the nerves and fears of exile." 

Margarita Mbywangi is an indigenous Paraguayan Woman who was kidnapped as a child and sold into domestic slavery. Working in the household of a family of European ancestry, she lost her family, her language and her indigenous identity. As a teenager she escaped, and embarked on a mission to rediscover her roots, a mission that would propel her into politics.  

Chris Bangle is best known as chief of design for BMW, but he also has a secret passion.- for giant benches. He and his wife have built 19 of them in various locations in Italy, where they now live, art installations helping people to appreciate the incredible landscapes. 

(Photo: The Secret Life of a Trans-Gender Airman. Credit: Rebecca Hendin)

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