Captain Hannah Winterbourne (right) is the
first transgender officer in the world. She
was born a man and spent the first few years
in the Army as a man before deciding to
undergo a sex-change operation while serving
in Afghanistan and began her transition in
2013. Now she's the Army’s most highly ranked
transgender soldier and the only one to
become an officer. She's now in charge of 100
soldiers
“I think initially it was a bit of a shock to some
people, they weren’t really expecting it
because it’s not something you come across
every day in the Army. However I think people
soon realised that it didn’t make a difference
to my job. At the end of the day I can still do
all the things I could do before I transitioned.
“That’s what the Army respects because we’re
all about capability and output. That’s what
matters.”
Hannah said of her decision to become a
woman: “It’s about finding that courage to do
it. And that’s not the easiest thing in the
world. “I was acting for everyone around me.
There was no let up where I could stop that
act.” she said Hannah said that it was
impossible to spend time on her own and be
honest with herself while serving in
Afghanistan.
She added: “That was a nudge which eventually
ended up with me coming out and changing
myself and my way of life.”
Hannah, the Army’s most highly-ranked
transgender soldier, revealed that the battle
with her gender began when she was a young
lad.
Determined to pursue a career in the Army,
she enrolled at a residential college designed
for students to enter the Forces.
The Army then sponsored her Electronic
Engineering degree at Newcastle University,
from where she went on to Sandhurst.
Hannah said: “The point where I realised I was
a woman but my body was wrong was around
the age of 23 at Sandhurst.
“After I was posted to Germany I decided to
go to the doctors and told them. And that’s
when my transition process began.”
Hannah has refused to reveal her previous
male name, describing it as a ‘label’.
She is now a rep for other transgender
servicemen and women and said:
“Despite
being perceived as a very masculine, old school,
organisation the Army’s actually very forward
thinking.”
Hannah was commissioned from Sandhurst in
2010 after being selected for officer training
aged 15.
Despite the difficulties of coming out as
transgender she said the Army had been “a
fantastic employer”.
“I came out as a trans soldier about a year
and a half ago when I was in Germany and
since then I’ve become the highest ranking,
openly serving trans soldier serving in the
regular army.
“One of my additional duties is that I’m the
transgender representative in the British
Army, which sees me dealing with education,
welfare and dealing with any issues that trans
soldiers may have.
“The British Army is a fantastic employer for
trans soldiers. We’ve had policies since 1999
and it’s all really, really clear.”
A film featuring Hannah’s life has appeared
online and is due to be broadcast by Channel
Four as part of a series of short films about
transgender people.
Culled From UK Mirror
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