Salma

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