TRANS DAY OF VISIBILITY
Last year Rhian was the winner of the 2022 Julie Barnes Frank Award for her advocacy work
I remember finding it odd and it did upset me.”
Through the local
but they couldn’t have been any friendlier or more supportive. I was expecting to have my motives questioned but it was the opposite and I was really well embraced and they gave me the confidence to press ahead and take that step.”
Rhian has had a very successful policing
career, having joined South Wales Police in 2015. She has worked in response and neighbourhood teams and has taken on investigative roles on domestic violence and volume crimes. She sat her sergeants’ exam in 2019, and was promoted to custody sergeant in 2021, but did question whether to stay on the frontline or not. Thankfully having supportive colleagues resulted in her continuing a frontline policing career. At first, Rhian did not consider joining any support networks and didn’t see the value at the time, until she moved to another team. “I didn’t see any value until I switched roles and ended up working with new colleagues who didn’t know me,” she explained. “They just knew I was trans, but it brought about some challenging attitudes and some intrusive questions. “I was suddenly inundated with questions from my new sergeant around my health, my voice and what toilets I would be using, as opposed to questions around career progression and aims – which was the whole reason I had moved roles in the first place.
LGBTQ+ police network, Rhian was supported by other officers and they gave her guidance and the confidence to resolve the issue with her line manager so learning could be put into place. This is where she realised the value of the support group in making the lives of LGBTQ+ officers better and ignited the spark leading her to sit on the group and eventually lead the network. Every force has
a local LGBTQ+ network and there is a national group which aims to make the police service better as a whole, and more inclusive for LGBTQ+ staff and officers, and provides representation to ensure policies do not have an adverse effect on the community.
Last year Rhian was the winner of the 2022 Julie Barnes-Frank Award for her advocacy work.
coming from a place that is malicious. “This may not be the same for everyone though, and everyone has a different journey, but there are so many educational resources online.
“If someone is open and receptive to questions, don’t be afraid to ask them, but think about the wording, and the question you are actually asking. You could preface the question with ‘whatever I say now, I may be clumsy with my wording but I certainly don’t mean to offend and I’m just curious. You don’t have to answer’. Or you could say ‘may I ask?’” On guidance for LGBTQ+ officers and
“I was suddenly inundated with questions from my new sergeant around my health, my voice and what toilets I would be using, as opposed to questions around career progression... and it did upset me”
The award is named after Julie Barnes-
Frank, a police officer from Greater Manchester Police who retired in 2009 and sadly passed away following her battle with cancer in 2017. She was one of the first police officers to ever march in a Pride parade in the UK and was pioneering in making her own force a more inclusive place for LGBTQ+ people. This in turn led to sweeping national changes in culture and attitude. When asked for advice on how best to
approach the subject with a transgender colleague, she said: “Everyone has their own levels of comfortability. I have always been very much open book so if anyone has questions - even if they think they are stupid - I am happy to answer them if they are not
staff, Rhian encourages telling a close friend or a colleague, or anyone you trust. Every force also has its own local LGBTQ+ network, and the Police Federation of England and Wales has a national LGBT+ group to support members. “Your local network is always there. It is difficult if you don’t know anyone there personally but I guarantee whoever you reach out to is there for the right reasons and they will be supportive of you,” she continued. “There were so many times when I was looking at my force intranet, and I could see the names of the people involved with the network, thinking I should send them an email, but I was still too scared to reach out. I wish I hadn’t been though, and wish I had done it years before I ended up having those conversations. “Now having worked within the network and getting to personally know many of its people, I regard some people all around the U.K, even internationally, as really good friends I can reach out to and speak to about anything. “What has been the privilege of my visibility is
being contacted by colleagues within my own force and elsewhere who are having struggles with their gender identity and being able to help them. It doesn’t feel so long ago when I was that person struggling and I looked around and couldn’t see that person I could contact.”
To get in touch with your local LGBTQ+ police network you can visit:
www.lgbt.police.uk/regions
For support and advice, contact your local Federation branch:
www.polfed.org/about-us/contact-us
To learn more about trans people, visit:
www.stonewall.org.uk/the-truth-about-trans
15 | POLICE | APRIL 2023
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