Sgt. Shane Ortega has served for more than 10 years in the military and is now an accomplished bodybuilder. (Photo courtesy ACLU)

When you first meet Sgt. Shane Ortega, the first things you notice are his muscles and tattoos. They are everywhere and it’s hard not to stare longer than the socially acceptable amount of time. Ortega is in D.C. for a series of briefings at the Pentagon and after multiple days of what he calls verbal ping-pong, he is ready to relax and do some sightseeing.

As he walks along the path next to the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, each person that approaches from the opposite direction takes stock of him as they pass by. The reason they are looking isn’t because he is a trans man, they are looking at him because he has presence.

That presence has served him well during the past six years of quietly advocating for LGBT policy in the military. It began with work on the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and progressed into policy for transgender military service members. That advocacy has included meeting with civilians outside of the military chain of command such as politicians, the American Medical Association, SPARTA and the American Civil Liberties Union, among others.

“There is no road map for policy change,” Ortega says. “The timeline has accelerated since DADT and the people in power have refreshed. We are not the boogeyman anymore.”

Ortega just passed his 10-year anniversary in the armed forces and has been deployed twice to Iraq with the Marines as a woman and once to Afghanistan with the Army as a man. He is a Helicopter Flight Engineer in the Army’s 25th Infantry Division stationed at the Garrison base in Oahu, though elevated testosterone levels have relegated him to administrative work for the time being.

Throughout the course of this year, each of the military services has elevated its transgender separation policy outside of the military chain of command to third-party civilians. Just a few days after Ortega finished the last of his briefings, the Pentagon announced plans to lift the ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military. After working in obscurity for years, Ortega is now one of the faces of the trans military movement.

The second thing you notice about Ortega when you meet him is that he is a ball of energy and he really likes to talk. As he treks toward the war memorials on the National Mall, his stories jump from music to scuba diving to his tours of duty to his uncles, all at breakneck speed. He is well spoken, engaging and funny. When he stops to admire the Vietnam Women’s Memorial, he mentions that he loves to sculpt things with clay.

The man knows a thing or two about sculpting other things as well.

Two months ago in Honolulu, he participated in his first physique competition and placed fourth, which qualified him for a spot at junior nationals in March of 2016. Sports and weightlifting had been a part of his regimen for years but it wasn’t until his body started filling out from hormone therapy that he began to think about competing.

Ortega was born in Maryland and moved around a lot growing up, living on bases with his mom or with family members while she was deployed overseas. He began wrestling in elementary school and picked the sport up again in high school along with track and field and soccer. After enlisting in the Marines he played intramural soccer and rugby on the bases.

A constant pursuit from sophomore year of high school on was weightlifting.

His high school wrestling coach started him out with the physiology of working out, which advanced to benching for form and finally lifting for bodybuilding. His heroes were the superstars of the World Wrestling Federation.

“I grew up with posters of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage on my bedroom walls,” says Ortega. “I was into that good ‘ole American hero image.”

The weight training continued throughout his military career and escalated to a point where people were asking him if he was competing. After contacting the event organizers of National Physique Competition, Ikaika and the governing body to receive permission to enter the event, Ortega began serious training to compete in the men’s physique Class A.

Each morning started with physical training with his Army unit, the Hill Climbers, and included calisthenics and 15-25 miles of running per week. After work there were three to four sessions per week of weightlifting, two with a trainer. He says the hardest part of the preparation was starting the diet two months out from the competition and jumping to 300 grams of protein per day.

Shane Ortega (Photo by Kevin Majoros)

“I was really anxious the week before my competition. As the time came for me to compete, I realized how important it was for me as a trans man to compete at that level,” Ortega says. “Everyone was really nice and respectful at the event and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience for my first competition. It was a huge self-confidence boost.”

Ortega’s overall goal for the competition was to finish in the top three and qualify for nationals. He will attempt to accomplish that in his second competition at the Paradise Cup in September. “I believe that you can be anything you want to be in this country,” says Ortega. “If you want to become an elite athlete, find your opportunity and pursue it.”

As the day of sightseeing in D.C. winds down, Ortega begins to explain some of the tattoos on his body. He says they all have meaning to him. There is a woman wearing a gas mask, a grenade, nautical stars, Hindu goddesses and an Army tank.

When asked why the tank, he gets a huge grin on his face and exclaims, “Dude, there is an Army tank on my arm. How cool is that?”

Just like Sgt. Shane Ortega, that is in fact, pretty cool.

Shane Ortega (Photo by Kevin Majoros)