Monica Helms

Monica F. Helms served in the Navy from 1970 to 1978 on two submarines. and was the editor of the ship newspaper for USS Francis Scott Key (SSBN 657) from 1974 to 1976. In 1987 she received AA Degree in Video Production at Glendale Community College. Monica has written over 20 short stories, six of which have been published. Her Short Story "The Phone of Plenty" won 3rd Place in the 1993 Arizona Author's Contest. In 1999 she created the Transgender Pride Flag which is now used around the world and donated the original to the Smithsonian 2014. Additionally, Monica is the founder and President of the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) from 2003 to 2013 and was elected as a delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Monica has four science fictions books self-published (Valhalla Straits of Hell The Wayward Star and Time Hostages), a collection of short stories self-published (Tales From a Two-Gendered Mind), and a fictionalized version of her experience on the USS Francis Scott Key (Blue and Gold) also self-published. A copy of that book is on display at the Smithsonian with the Transgender Pride Flag. Additionally she contributed a chapter in an anthology called Trans People in Love published by Haworth Press Inc. in 2007. Monica recently finished autobiography More Than a Flag to come out in 2019 and has served as the Grand Marshal at San Francisco, Atlanta, and Charlotte Pride and will be Grand Marshall at the upcoming Phoenix and World Pride 2019.