Transgender Baltimore City Firefighter Embraced By Peers After Coming Out: 'It's Just Fantastic'
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- For more than two decades, Baltimore City firefighter Sarah Corrigan struggled internally with becoming who she really is.
"It was something that I knew I've always wanted for about the last 25 years, since my freshman year in high school, but the world back then was different," Corrigan said.
But in the last year, after divorcing her wife, she said she felt like it was time to make a change and begin her path of embracing who she knew she was inside.
"Some significant life changes at home led me to believe it's now or never... So, I decided to take that chance," she said.
And with that, she started her journey and began her transition to become a woman. Corrigan was scared and afraid of how her co-workers might react to her transition.
"I was very skeptical about how things would go in the fire department," Corrigan said. "Nobody gave me any reason to feel that way, it was just in my own head. I felt like this was going to be impossible in the fire department."
And to her surprise, when she started coming out to her colleagues, she said she felt nothing but love.
"Everybody in this job has been so incredibly supportive," she said. "I've had people who have purchased shoes for me. Just the other day somebody brought me an entire shopping bag full of purses. It's just fantastic."
BCFD Chief Niles Ford told WJZ that the department has been preparing for years for a moment like this and knew if they showed how accepting they were of Corrigan, it would help other members of the transgender community.
"She actually put herself out there and we wrapped our arms around her," Chief Ford said. "By us wrapping our arms around Sarah, we're helping so many other people in the same situation who don't know what to do."
Corrigan said she wants to show others that they can transition too.
"Don't let yourself hold you back," Corrigan said. "All you need to do is try your best and be yourself."
