Guinan does have something in common with many in the FDNY: The department runs in her family. Her father, George William Guinan V, is an FDNY lieutenant her grandfather George IV retired as a captain. Growing up, she heard stories about the escapades of her forebears - both of whom are heterosexual and, as she puts it, masculine and athletic. “There’s such an attitude in society that firefighting is for straight, masculine men,” Guinan says. That said, unlike many women who aspire to join the FDNY, she had no trouble meeting the job’s physical requirements. Standing six feet tall, Guinan weighs 240 pounds and doesn’t lack for strength. When my mother needs furniture moved, she calls me.” My body has a lot of natural strength to it,” she says. When it comes to stamina, though, Guinan says a lot of women in the department would best her. You have to know what you have and know what you have to work for.” “You don’t have to be six feet tall and built like a linebacker to do this job,” she says, arms folded across her chest. On this particular evening, she’s wearing a black sweater, black top, and tight blue jeans. A silver necklace with a dolphin pendant hangs around her neck, a gift from her boyfriend. Guinan doesn’t remember a time when she didn’t feel mostly different from everyone around her. Now she talks about not wanting to “let down” other transgender men and women who see her as an inspiration for bucking convention and stereotype to enter a profession where she is looked upon as an outsider.Īlthough she has grown accustomed to feeling separate from the norm, she admits it took years of burning under society’s intolerant glare for her to emerge stronger, certain of who she is and her place in the world. “I couldn’t get the voices out of my head of people telling me I’ll never be a woman, I don’t look like a woman, I don’t sound like a woman, and it’s never going to happen,” Guinan says.
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