Meet Orange County Sheriff's Office first transgender deputy

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Orange County Sheriff's Deputy Rebecca "Riley" Storozuk is blazing her own trail as the department's first transgender Deputy.

Born Peter John Storozuk, the US Army veteran is conquering years worth of internal struggles.

"Peter tried everything he could to be as super macho, and as super masculine as possible," She said. "It was an entire masquerade."

As a child, she used to pray she'd wake up a woman and be noticed. Into adulthood, anger built up inside because of constant internal fighting.

She joined the Sheriff's Office in November 2012, and eventually came out as transgender.

"It was nervous excitement," she explained.

Early on she dealt with dress code issues. She had short hair, a beard, and even a man's physique.

"From what I hear, they're establishing a policy for transgender employees," she explained.

She officially got her department name tag changed earlier this year.

Now, a lot of her support comes from her co-workers and other deputies.

"They've been great," she explained with a smile. "My co-workers are some of the ones that are carrying me through this."

She knows there's adversity out there from people who strongly disagree with who she is.

"I don't care," she said. "That's your life, what you believe in. If you're in danger, you could say the worst stuff to me. but i will still be there."

She just wants to do her job, and live her truth, as a deputy sworn to protect and serve.