BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) – In macho Serbia, he came across as macho as they come: an army major in a military culture that glorifies masculine strength. He was a perfect husband and father in a society that preaches family values. But for nearly his entire life, the major felt he was living a lie: Deep down, he was a woman.
Last year, he came out, telling his family and superiors that he was Helena – and starting therapy to become a woman. She did not remain Serbia’s first transgender major for long: The army asked for her resignation, saying she “posed a threat to the reputation of the army.” This month, Helena scored an important victory: A Serbian human rights body ruled that the army had discriminated against her by saying she was a potential stain on its honor.
Today, Helena appears in public in women’s clothes and sporting bleached blond hair. The 43-year-old declined to provide her first or last name during her life as a man in order to protect a divorced wife and four children – but is not shy about being photographed or filmed in her new identity.
By speaking out, Helena has become a rare voice representing Serbia’s transgender community, which lives under constant fear of hate crimes on the margins of the society. Tolerance for the LGBT community across the Balkans is low, and several gay pride events in Serbia have been canceled because of extremist violence.
“I am fighting for the rights of all humiliated people,” Helena told The Associated Press in an interview. “This is a struggle for all those who can’t enjoy their basic human right to be equal with everybody else.”