Erika Katske

Salma is intersex, from Iraq, and worked with the US military as an interpreter there. After fleeing violence and threats in Iraq, she now lives in San Francisco with a volunteer host family.

An Iraqi who served the US military gets a new life, and gender identity, in America

In Iraq, Salma was officially considered a man. She is intersex — someone born with indeterminate gender — and has chosen to live as a woman. After serving as an interpreter for the US military during the Iraq war, she received death threats and a grant of asylum in the US. Now, a new program is helping her and other lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) refugees establish new lives in America.

An Iraqi who served the US military gets a new life, and gender identity, in America