[2][3] In her younger years, she earned the rank of Eagle Scout, and was a member of the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps.

[7] Frye joined the United States Army, and post-graduation at Texas A&M, she was stationed in West Germany, achieving the rank of First lieutenant.

[2][8] Frye disclosed her struggles with her sexual identity to her Army superiors, and they sent her back to the United States in an effort to "cure" her.

During her time at the University of Houston, she joined the Christian Legal Society but eventually got the group suspended for discrimination because they were secretly meeting to avoid letting her be involved.

After graduation, Frye could not find a firm that would hire her, so she sold Amway cleaning products and worked sporadically as an engineering consultant.

She took an interest in criminal defense and became a recognizable fixture in the Harris County Courthouse representing indigent defendants as a court-appointed attorney.

[9][14] Frye later became the country's first openly transgender judge in 2010, though she also experienced discrimination against her for this in both the private and public spheres, ranging from people vandalizing her house to refusing her jobs.

[18] That same year, a dispute arose over the version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) proposed in the 104th Congress (1995–1996), which did not include protection for transgender people.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), an LGBT advocacy group, drew particular criticism for its endorsement of the Act, which was seen as a betrayal by many in the transgender community.