News Articles
5th May 2009
Former paratrooper becomes Scotland's first trans police officer
(Source: Pinknews.co.uk)
A trans woman who successfully won a sex discrimination case against the Army
has been accepted by Strathclyde Police as a trainee constable.
Jan Hamilton, formerly known as Ian, served in the Army for 20 years until 2007
when she began gender reassignment.
She took the Army to an industrial tribunal on grounds of sex discrimination for
its refusal to acknowledge her as a legal woman.
She was a captain with service in war zones such as Bosnia and Iraq, where she
was wounded by a roadside bomb. After returning to the UK she started gender
reassignment treatments.
Ms Hamilton, 44, claimed her superiors ignored repeated requests from her to
discuss her gender reassignment.
A source told the Daily Mail she had been accepted on to the police force's training
course and had "sailed through" the six-month application process.
"Jan Hamilton scored highly in the written tests and had no problem with the fitness tests.
"She completed the mile-and-a-half run in about 11 minutes, even though women are
allowed to take up to 16."
The source added that senior officers were fully supporting her application.
A spokesman for Strathclyde Police said: "We cannot confirm or deny any information
that constitutes personal information. The Force actively promotes itself as an employer
to all sections of the public."
