Monica Helms

Monica F. Helms is a transgender activist, author, and veteran of the United States Navy. She is the creator of the Transgender Pride Flag.

Helms served in the US Navy from 1970-1978, and was assigned to two submarines, USS Francis Scott Key (SSBN 657) 1972-1976, USS Flasher (SSN 613) 1976-1978. During her time in the Navy, Helms began cross-dressing while based in Charleston, South Carolina and says in an interview it was the "deepest, darkest secret in [her] entire life". She was reassigned to the Bay Area in 1976, and said she "felt like [she] could be out in public as [herself]".

Helms left the Navy in 1978, and joined her hometown's chapter of the United States Submarine Veterans, Inc. in 1996. After transitioning, Helms reapplied in 1998 to the Phoenix chapter of the veteran's group with the name "Monica" and received considerable push-back, including being referred to a more generic veteran's group for women rather than the submarine specific group. Helms eventually prevailed after a few months, and claims to be the first woman to ever join the organization.

Helms created the Transgender Pride Flag, which was first flown at a Pride Parade in Phoenix, Arizona, 2000. Helms donated the original Transgender Pride Flag at the first ceremony honoring the addition of a collection of LGBT historical items at the Smithsonian on August 19, 2014.

Helms founded the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) in 2003, and remained president until 2013. On May 1, 2004, TAVA sponsored the first ever Transgender Veterans March to the Wall. Fifty trans veterans arrived in DC and visited the Vietnam Memorial to honor people they knew who’s names are on The Wall. They also made history when they became the first openly transgender people to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. They did it again in 2005. Helms continues to advocate for transgender service members and veterans, as the end of the prolific Don't Ask Don't Tell policy of the United States military did not change the status of transgender military personnel.

Her political activism includes lobbying state legislators in Arizona and Georgia, and Congress on Capitol Hill. She made history when she was elected as a delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. She was the first trans person elected to a DNC Convention from Georgia and the South.

Helms has a General AA Degree and an AA in Industrial Television from Glendale Community College (Arizona) in 1987. Helms is currently attending Chattahoochee Technical College for an AA Degree in Television Production.

Helms builds and launches model rockets. She is a member if the Southern Area Rocketry and the National Association of Rocketry. She launched her first rocket, a Centuri Javelin, in March 1967 and now has launched over 200 different rockets and over 475 launches. Helms also enjoys recording and editing videos. She has created over 200 videos on YouTube and has posted many of them on Facebook. She has made several videos on model rocket launches, LGBT activism and political commentary.

Helms has written several articles for magazines, newspaper, and blogs. In 1993, her short story “Phone of Plenty” won 3rd prize in the Arizona Author’s Contest. She has six books on Amazon.com. Four are Science Fiction (Valhalla, The Straits of Hell, Time Hostages, and The Wayward Star). Another, Blue and Gold is a fictionalized version of what Helms experienced on the Francis Scott Key. The last one is a collection of short stories called Tales from a Two-Gendered Mind. The Straits of Hell is a sequel to Valhalla.

Helms worked for Sprint for 25 years and retired in January 2015. She married Darlene Darlington Wagner on November 18, 2016. Wagner has a PhD in Bioinformatics from Georgia Tech and works at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia.