Washington (CNN) Rep. Joe Kennedy has invited a transgender soldier to be his guest at the State of the Union address as a protest to the transgender military ban the Trump administration has put in place, Kennedy's spokesman confirmed.

The Boston Globe first reported the Massachusetts Democrat's invitation to Staff Sgt. Patricia King.

"I have served for almost 19 years," King told The Globe . "And all of a sudden, it is all hanging in the balance."

She said she realized who she was at the end of her last deployment in 2013.

"You're trying to work up the courage to make that leap, and once you do, gravity does the rest," she added.

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