A TRANSGENDER SOLDIER has become the first woman to serve on the frontlines in the British army.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun in the UK, Chloe Allen, who joined the army in 2012 as a man named Ben, talked about her transition and how it felt to be the first woman serving on the frontlines.
Chloe (24) serves as a member of the 1st Battalion, the Scots Guards, and is now the first female infantry soldier to serve on the frontlines since the army was first established in 1660.
Rules which had prohibited women in the army from being in close and kill situations with the enemy were only lifted in July of this year.
Chloe changed her name from Ben last year and recently began hormone treatment.
The British Army ruled last month that she could remain as a soldier with the Scots Guards, making her the first woman to be allowed in close and kill situations with the enemy.
“It is a great honour to be able to make history and at the same time do my job, it’s just brilliant, I’m just looked at as a normal person,” she said to The Sun.
“I’d love to inspire people to just come out and be themselves, as much as it’s a big bad world, it’s not as bad as what people think it is, and it’s easier when you’ve got your mates and your bosses behind you.
I didn’t set out to make history, it’s just the way it’s happened.
Transition
Chloe said that she had been seen by fellow soldiers while cross-dressing last year, and had been worried about what they might think.
However, she said their reaction had been very positive, so she decided to come out to her wife, friends and family.
“My transition has been as easy as it could have got for me, the battalion has been brilliant, the Army has been brilliant, the lads have been brilliant,” she said.
As much as it’s a big bad world, it’s not as bad as people think and it’s easier when you’ve got your mates and your bosses behind you.
Chloe is a rifleman in the Scots Guards and a driver of armoured trucks. Her role also includes ceremonial duties like guarding Buckingham Palace.
General Sir James Everard, commander of the Field Army congratulated Chloe on making history in the army.
“The British Army is really proving itself as an inclusive organisation where everyone is welcome and can thrive,” he said.
Being the first of anything takes courage. I applaud Guardsman Chloe Allen for being a trendsetter and wish her every success.
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