Monica Helms
{{Short description|American transgender activist and writer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Monica Helms
| image = Monica Helms at San Francisco Trans March 2015.jpg
| caption = Monica Helms on June 26, 2015
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1951|3|8}}
| birth_place = Sumter, South Carolina, United States
| party = Democratic Party{{cite journal |last=Hoffert |first=Barbara |date=2001-08-01 |title=Monica Helms |journal=Transgender American Veterans Association |url=http://transveteran.org/board-item/monica-helms/ |access-date=2020-07-26 |archive-date=2020-07-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726122718/http://transveteran.org/board-item/monica-helms/ |url-status=dead }}
| nationality = American
| alma_mater =
| years_active =
| spouse = Darlene Darlington Wagner, PhD
| occupation = {{Hlist | Writer
Speaker
Activist
Camera Operator
Editor}}
| known_for = {{Hlist |Transgender activism
Transgender pride flag}}
| website =
}}
Monica F. Helms (born March 8, 1951) is an American transgender activist, author, and veteran of the United States Navy. She created the best-known transgender flag.
Education
Helms received a General AA Degree and an AA in Industrial Television from Glendale Community College in Arizona in 1987 and graduated from Chattahoochee Technical College in 2018 with an AA Degree in Television Production Technology.{{Cite web |date=2021-06-10 |title=Monica Helms: Creator of the Transgender Flag - VA News |url=https://news.va.gov/90051/monica-helms-creator-transgender-flag/ |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=news.va.gov |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009152531/https://news.va.gov/90051/monica-helms-creator-transgender-flag/ |url-status=live }}
US Navy career
File:FS Key.jpg|{{USS|Francis Scott Key|SSBN-657|6}}
File:Key Patch.jpg|Key's Patch
File:USS Flasher (SSN-613).jpg|{{USS|Flasher|SSN-613|6}}
File:Flasher Patch.jpg|Flasher's Patch
Helms served in the U.S. Navy from 1970 to 1978, and was assigned to two submarines: {{USS|Francis Scott Key|SSBN-657|6}} (1972–1976) and {{USS|Flasher|SSN-613|6}} (1976–1978).{{cite web |url=http://thegavoice.com/atlanta-transgender-military-members-veterans-await-end-ban/ |title=LGBT Military: Atlanta transgender members, veterans await end to ban |last=Saunders |first=Patrick |date=5 May 2016 |website=Georgia Voice |access-date=17 June 2016}} During her time in the Navy, Helms began dressing as a woman while based in Charleston, South Carolina and says in an interview it was the "deepest, darkest secret in [her] entire life".{{cite web |url=https://creativeloafing.com/content-198674-first-person---monica-helms-transsexual-navy |title=Monica Helms, transsexual Navy veteran |last=Saunders |first=Patrick |date=5 October 2009 |website=Creative Loafing |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-date=8 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708183532/https://creativeloafing.com/content-198674-first-person---monica-helms-transsexual-navy |url-status=live }} She was reassigned to the San Francisco 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2012/10/for-transgendered-soldiers-dont-ask-dont-tell-carries-on/264225/ |title=For Transgendered Soldiers, Don't Ask Don't Tell Carries On |last=Daileda |first=Colin |date=29 Oct 2012 |website=The Atlantic |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-date=16 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516184836/https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2012/10/for-transgendered-soldiers-dont-ask-dont-tell-carries-on/264225/ |url-status=live }} 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 is the first trans woman to ever join the organization.
Activism
File:Transgender Pride flag.svg
Helms created a transgender pride flag in 1999,{{cite web |url=http://www.gaylesbiantimes.com/?id=9721 |title=Gay and Lesbian Times |author=Brian van de Mark |date=10 May 2007 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120906123604/http://www.gaylesbiantimes.com/?id=9721 |archive-date=6 September 2012 |access-date=3 November 2016 |df=dmy-all }}{{cite news | url=http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/art/2014/11/12/smithsonians-queer-collection | title=The Smithsonian's Queer Collection | publisher=The Advocate | date=12 November 2014 | access-date=5 June 2015 | author=Fairyington, Stephanie | archive-date=23 April 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423105228/https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/art/2014/11/12/smithsonians-queer-collection | url-status=live }} and it was first flown at a Pride Parade in Phoenix, Arizona in 2000.{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/20/transgender-flag_n_2166742.html |title=Transgender Flag Flies In San Francisco's Castro District After Outrage From Activists |last=Sankin |first=Aaron |date=20 Nov 2012 |website=Huffington Post |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-date=3 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150803160327/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/20/transgender-flag_n_2166742.html |url-status=live }}
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 whose 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. Even now, Helms continues to advocate for transgender service members and veterans. She was elected as a delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. She was the first openly trans person elected to a DNC Convention from Georgia.{{Cite web |title=Trans Resilience and Military Service: Notable Transgender and Non-binary Veterans |url=https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/communityproviders/assets/docs/populations/TRANS_RESILIENCE_AND_MILITARY_SERVICE.pdf |access-date=October 12, 2022 |website=U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs |archive-date=December 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201042319/https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/communityproviders/assets/docs/populations/TRANS_RESILIENCE_AND_MILITARY_SERVICE.pdf |url-status=live }}
Helms donated her original transgender pride flag to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, at the first ceremony honoring the addition of a collection of LGBT historical items at the Smithsonian on August 19, 2014.{{cite web |url=http://www.glaad.org/blog/lgbt-historical-items-celebrated-smithsonian |title=LGBT historical items celebrated at the Smithsonian |last=Katz |first=Joeli |date=20 Aug 2014 |website=GLAAD |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-date=10 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810221038/http://www.glaad.org/blog/lgbt-historical-items-celebrated-smithsonian |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|last1=Kutner|first1=Max|title=A Proud Day at American History Museum as LGBT Artifacts Enter the Collections|url=http://www.smithsonian.com/smithsonian-institution/will-grace-affirms-role-american-history-180952400/?no-ist|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140828205719/http://www.smithsonian.com/smithsonian-institution/will-grace-affirms-role-american-history-180952400/?no-ist|archive-date=28 August 2014|access-date=28 August 2014}}
In June 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, an event widely considered a watershed moment in the modern LGBTQ rights movement, Queerty named her one of the Pride50 for "trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards equality, acceptance and dignity for all queer people".{{Cite web|url=https://www.queerty.com/pride50|title=Queerty Pride50 2019 Honorees|website=Queerty|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-18|archive-date=2019-08-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190826134957/https://www.queerty.com/pride50|url-status=live}}
Book
In 2019, Helms released an autobiography titled More Than Just A Flag, detailing major events in her life from childhood, her career in the Navy and activism for the transgender community, published by MB Books.{{cite book|first1=Monica F.|last1=Helms|date=19 March 2019|title=More than just a flag|publisher=MB Books|isbn=9780578465869|url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/1098216878|access-date=June 21, 2024|archive-date=21 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621233054/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1098216878|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://hannahmcknight.org/2019/04/02/more-than-just-a-flag/|title=More Than Just a Flag|date=2 April 2019|access-date=21 June 2024|website=hannahmcknight.org|archive-date=21 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621233243/https://hannahmcknight.org/2019/04/02/more-than-just-a-flag/|url-status=live}}
Personal life
Helms is married to Darlene Wagner. Wagner had worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) prior to being laid off by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in 2025.{{cite news |last1=Ferrannini |first1=John |title=LGBTQ Agenda: Trans flag creator moving to Costa Rica, citing US backsliding under Trump |url=https://www.ebar.com/story/155133/ |access-date=June 9, 2025 |work=Bay Area Reporter |date=June 9, 2025}}
In June 2025, Helms announced that she and Wagner plan to move to Costa Rica, as they are both trans women and fear that anti-trans laws will come to affect them in Georgia.
References
{{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Helms, Monica}}
Category:Activists from Arizona
Category:Activists from South Carolina
Category:American LGBTQ military personnel
Category:Female United States Navy personnel
Category:LGBTQ people from Arizona
Category:LGBTQ people from South Carolina
Category:American LGBTQ rights activists
Category:People from Sumter, South Carolina
Category:Transgender military personnel
Category:Transgender women writers