Transgender NJ Veteran Wins Fight To Change Name On Official Military Form

KEARNY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- This may be one of the most significant battles one Army veteran from New Jersey has won.

Jennifer Marie Long, a transgender soldier from Kearny, spent 30 years in the Army working to prove her masculinity.

"You don't want to be outed, especially because everything is riding on this, I get outed my whole military career could've gone down the tubes," Long told 1010 WINS' Rebecca Granet.

She started taking hormones and legally changed her name from Edward to Jennifer three years ago.

When she and another veteran were told that their request to change their names on a form proving their military record of service had been granted, she was floored.

"I had to sit down, I couldn't believe it," Long said, adding this is the first time this has ever happened post service.

Long said the name change symbolizes progress.

"The Army should be commended to making the decisions to move things forward socially," Long said.

Long is now fighting for the ability to change her birth record to reflect the gender with which she identifies. She says in the military she was literally fighting for her life and now this is a different kind of fight for her life.

"You get in positions where you're literally fighting to take your next breath and I survived that fight," Long said. "And now I'm fighting for my life still, in a different way, to justify who I am and that's still a fight. We're going to keep fighting it."