Former paratrooper becomes Scotland’s first trans police officer

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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.”

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