British Soldier who becomes Army's first transgender officer
Hannah Winterbourne: Soldier who has become Army's first transgender officer says "I was living an act"
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Captain Hannah Winterbourne, 27, who is in charge of 100 soldiers, decided to become a woman while serving in Afghanistan and began her transition in 2013
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A soldier who has become the Army’s only transgender officer has said “I was living an act.”
Captain Hannah Winterbourne, 27, decided to become a woman whilst serving in Afghanistan and began her gender transition in 2013.
Hannah is in charge of over 100 soldiers as an officer in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and is the highest ranking trans soldier in the British Army.
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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’.
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“The British Army is a fantastic employer for trans soldiers. We’ve had policies since 1999 and it’s all really, really clear.”
good for her. it seems like the army is slowly getting more tolerant, which is good because i feel like they were lagging behind on that front for a long time
