Trans People In Blue

In the news today are articles about trans police officers in Florida and Colorado…

Orange County's first transgender deputy: 'I’m becoming who I want to be'
Orlando Sentinel
By Caitlin Doornbos
June 25, 2017

As a child, Peter John Storozuk used to pray he’d wake up in the morning a little girl.

Storozuk, now an Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputy, still wishes the transition from male to female could happen overnight. But the officer — now named Rebecca — is inspiring change in her agency to help ease the long process of changing genders.

“It’s not so much a prayer anymore, because I’m becoming who I want to be,” she said.

Storozuk, 29, is the first transgender deputy at the Sheriff’s Office. She received her new department-issued name tag formally recognizing her as Rebecca in February after legally changing her name and gender.
[…]
She was met with acceptance and said she “was able to show them and change their perception of what transgender is.”

Of course they had to had a “before” photo of her. In the trans community there is a drinking game, one shot each time the article uses their “Deadname,” one shot if they have a photo of putting on makeup, and one shot if they use a photo from before their transition. This was a two shot article.

In Colorado another police officer transitioned on the job.

Colorado sheriff deputy proudly comes out as transgender
By Jack Queen, Associated Press
June 25, 2017


FRISCO, Colo. (AP) — On the morning of April 12, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office called a mandatory staff-wide meeting in the largest courtroom at the justice center in Breckenridge. Employees from the District Attorney’s Office came as well, along with probation staff and court clerks.

Few in the room knew the reason for the unprecedented gathering of the entire Summit County Justice Center campus. Some mistakenly thought there might be an announcement about raises.

“The sheriff asked everyone, ’Hey I’ve heard there are some rumors about why we’re here today, does anybody want to share one?’” recalled the sheriff’s operations commander and SWAT leader, Lesley Mumford. “Devin, my 7-year-old-son, raises his hand, stands up on his chair and says, ‘Because my mom’s going to tell you she’s transgender.’”

I wish them all the best!

Here in liberal Connecticut officers who have transitioned had to face discrimination from the rank and file. One officer faced discipline warnings for doing that other women officer did but never received and some of the other officers made derogatory comments to her. The other officer was denied a position in the department even though she was the most qualified.