Laura Renee Walters

My first job after graduation was with Smiths Industries in Largo, Florida. Smiths made aircraft instruments for both civil and military aviation. One of their main contracts was with the Marine Corps to supply the heads-up display used in the AV 8a Harrier vertical takeoff and landing jet. My job title was Engineering Administrator. I took care of all the routine things that the engineering manager didn't want to deal with.

At the time, Smiths was rapidly expanding, and we were busy hiring engineers, drafters, tech writers, production workers, etc. Engineers were hired directly, but drafters were employed through a temp service. If the drafters' work was good and they fit in, Smiths would hire them as direct employees after ninety days.

One of the drafters the temp service sent to us was a woman in her mid-twenties named Laura Renee Walters. She was the first female in a group of four drafters. Her work was excellent, and she soon became an important addition to the drafting department. When I first met her, I noticed that she was quite attractive but seemed to be wearing a lot of makeup. Later, I learned the reason for that.

After several months with the company, she came to me and asked if we could talk. I said, "Sure, what can I do for you?"

 She said, “I want to know why I haven't been hired as a direct employee. I've been here for over four months, and people who were brought in after me have already been hired. Jim Merritt (her boss) keeps telling me they are working on it, and to be patient.” I assured her I’d look into it to find out what was causing the delay.

Later that day, I brought the matter to the Engineering Manager, John Desmond, and asked why Laura Renee had not been hired. He explained that her security clearance had some problem, and until it was resolved, they couldn’t offer her a permanent position. Since it was a sensitive issue, I didn’t press for further details. Trusting Desmond’s word that the matter was being handled, I passed the information along to Laura Renee and encouraged her to give it another week or two.

Three weeks later Laura was back, and this time she was angry. She told me she was tired of waiting, and if she didn't get some answers, she was going to take legal action against the company. I found John Desmond his office and told him what Laura Renee said, and asked him again what was holding up Laura Renee’s security clearance?

John pointed to a chair. “Come in and close the door.”

I closed the door behind me and sat down, sensing something serious was coming. 

John lowered his voice almost to a whisper. “You know that Laura Renee Walters is really a man, right?”

I was stunned. A surreal feeling swept over me like I had just discovered that the person I thought was my dear old mom was really my aunt. I recovered in time to hear his explanation.

According to John, Laura Renee was well on her way to being hired by Smiths until her boss, Jim Merritt, ran a routine background check. He called three of her former employers and got glowing recommendations. Then, he called the number Laura Renee had listed as her residence. Laura's mother answered. Jim told her that he was verifying information on an employment application.

“Is this the residence of Laura Renee Walters?”, he asked.

“No,” she said. “This is the residence of Paul Walters, I'm his mother. He calls himself Laura Renee now for some reason.”

Jim Merritt was momentarily speechless. “You mean that Laura is a man but dresses like a woman?”

'Yes.” she said, “And I'm sick about it. He's taking hormone shots and everything trying to become a woman.”

Jim hung up and passed that information on to John Desmond who in turn passed it on to the plant manager. Then, completely unknown to me, Smiths went into damage control mode and went around to all the women in our section of the plant and asked if anyone objected to Laura Renee using the women's facilities. Amazingly, not a single woman objected.          

In the meantime, before I learned Laura was a guy, I had suggested to my shy friend, Berkebile, that he ask Laura out for a lunch date. He never got up enough courage to do it, but he blamed me for trying to set him up in what would have been an awkward position. It took me a while to convince him that I was as ignorant of her status as he was.

As it turned out, Smiths was ready to hire Laura Renee, but her clearance was being held up while officials decided whether or not transgender persons presented a security risk. Up until 1993, persons identified as homosexual were categorically denied access to classified material, but the status of transgender individuals remained largely undefined. It was left to the Contracting Authority to decide; in this case the Marine Corps. Smiths wanted a letter from the Marines stating whether or not transgender persons were allowed access to confidential material. 

Laura Renee’s threat of a lawsuit brought the matter to a head. She was granted a clearance and Smiths hired her as a direct employee. Things returned to near normal.

I was involved in one more surreal event with Laura. A young engineer, a recent graduate of USF, applied for a job, and we invited him to come in for an interview. I gave him a tour of the plant, introduce him to some of the engineers, and invited him to lunch. On our way out the back door to the parking lot we met Laura Renee coming in. I introduced them.

“Ron, this is Laura Renee Walters, one of our drafters.”

They exchanged handshakes, smiles, and greetings, but there was a noticeable tension in the exchange. Outside I guided Ron to my blue Volkswagen, but he attempted to get into the black Buick parked next to me. He was acting strangely. 

Suddenly, he exclaimed, “I know who that is! That's Paul Walters, he was my classmate at Hillsborough Community College." He was just as astonished as I had been when I learned Laura's status.

He recovered his composure after a minute, and we went to lunch across the street at the 94th Aero Squadron restaurant and compared notes. Ron said that he and Paul Walters had several classes together at HCC and that Paul was a serious student and a good friend.

Thinking back, Laura Renee was a pioneer in the struggle for equal rights. She fought and won her battle, but the struggle goes on. The status of transgender people in the military and elsewhere is still evolving.

Ron decided not to work for Smiths.