70 • AUGUST 2019
G
rowing up in Runcorn in the
70s and 80s, transgender
wasn’t a word I heard. I just
knew that I was different. When
puberty hit, I tried to blend in, but it felt
strange, like living someone else’s life.
In 1988—the year of Section 28
[which banned the discussion of
homosexuality in schools]—I was
feeling completely lost, both from a
gender and a sexuality point of view.
I was attracted to men, but that
attraction was something I felt as a
man. Thankfully, my German teacher
recognised that I was struggling. He
sat me down and asked what the
matter was. I couldn’t verbalise it. I
didn’t know what to say—am I gay? Is
there something wrong with my
body? In the end he said “Are you
thinking you’re gay? If that’s it, then
you’re not the only gay person in this
room.”
I just remember thinking, oh my
word. He had risked his career for me,
and it was the beginning of a lifelong
friendship—he and his husband took
me to my first gender reassignment
surgery appointment.
When I joined Merseyside Police at
23, I was identifying as a gay woman.
Those were the worst few years of my
life. In the 90s, the police force wasn’t
an accepting place and I experienced
misogyny and homophobia. But there
was a turning point in 1998 when ITRANSGENDER TRAILBLAZERS
Detective Sergeant Christian
Owens, 48, is approaching a
milestone 25 years of service
with Merseyside Police Force.
But his time with the force—
and in life—wasn’t always
plain sailing...