She, He & Finding Me

TJ Barganski grew up in a dysfunctional Mormon home as a female, yet from a very young age he felt like a boy in a girl's body. Too young to understand or articulate why he felt like a misfit, he became an angry and confused child who acted out. In addition to being bullied, tormented, abused, and sexually molested, Barganski was put in special education in school. Nobody knew what to do with him. As a young adult, Barganski first became a firefighter and then enlisted in the Navy with hopes that would give him peace. But after serving his country for two years, he was unceremoniously discharged for homosexuality just two years before it became a nonissue. He left the Navy, returned to firefighting, and became a federal firefighter. He loved his job but endured relentless ridicule and torment at the hands of his firefighter brothers. One day, he just couldn't take anymore. Feeling helpless and hopeless, Barganski embarked on a suicidal plan. "I could no longer live in this body or mind