Sheri Swokowski

Sheri Swokowski (born 1950) is an American advocate for transgender rights and former U.S. Army colonel. Born in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Swokowski entered the Army after high school and served as an infantry officer; she attained the rank of colonel and later taught in the ROTC at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point and worked for the Wisconsin Army National Guard. Swokowski came out as a transgender woman in 2006 while teaching at the U.S. Army Force Management School; following her transition, she was told that she had been replaced as a teacher, though no other teacher took her place for several months.^[1]

In response to the incident, Swokowski became an advocate for transgender rights in the military and LGBT employment non-discrimination laws. She worked with U.S. Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin to promote the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and Baldwin shared her story during a Senate committee hearing on the act.^[2][3] As the highest-ranking transgender Army veteran, Swokowski attended Pentagon Pride events in 2015 as a woman while wearing her infantry brass; as women were not yet allowed to enter the infantry, her uniform served as an reminder of the existence of transgender soldiers, and she hoped to use her presence to represent the estimated 15,500 closeted transgender service members.^[3][4]

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