Robina Asti was a World War II veteran who later became an inspiration to the transgender community as she fought for her husband’s Social Security benefits.Asti served in the U.S.
Navy during World War II, installing radios in aircraft in the Pacific Theater. After the war, she operated a supper club with friends and later worked for mutual fund company E.W.
Axe. In was in the 1970s that Asti began her transition, and she later married Norwood Patton. After his death in 2012, she filed to receive his Social Security benefits.
She was denied her claim because, according to her birth certificate, she was legally a man at the time of her marriage. Asti enlisted the help of Lambda Legal and fought to receive the benefits.