Changing Perspectives: After-effects of Working with Trans Cops

transgender officers; however, two currently work alongside a transgender colleague. Richard, an officer from the West with 10 years of police experience, stated that transgender officers are accepted within his department because there are two with his agency alone. Richard stated:

No one bothers either one and takes them as seriously as they would other officers; it is pretty much a non-issue.

Although a very small sample, it was notable that officers, like Richard, who work closely with a trans-identified officer seemed to have a better understanding of trans identities and existence than those who did not. As John, an American officer, stated:

94 _{This was examined previously in American officers’ responses in this section. Further, Chapter Two}

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We are more acquainted with their lifestyle, I suppose. People tend to reject and fear what they don’t understand – we understand it.

As described in Richard’s and John’s interview quotes, a better understanding of transgender identities was attributed to direct interaction with a member of the transgender community, specifically with a fellow officer. This could be further explained by notions of Allport’s intergroup contact theory (1954).

Allport (1954) theorised that positive effects of intergroup contact occur in group situations where there is equal group status within the situation, common goals, intergroup cooperation and the support of authorities, law or custom. These positive effects change intergroup relationships through the changing of behaviour, by generating affective ties and through in-group reappraisal (Allport, 1954). In other words, by working alongside a transgender colleague, officers can generate affective ties. Therefore, a social group that was unfamiliar becomes more familiar. This social familiarity allows for a better understanding of social rights, thus making social acceptance easier, since the affected group is not deemed as a foreign concept anymore. Notably, familiarity does not remove bias; instead, it leads to more social familiarity, which over time can change a person’s social perceptions.

When looking at the culture of policing as a subgroup, much of the intergroup cohesiveness that makes up the solidarity culture that officers have towards each other could be connected to Allport’s (1954) intergroup contact theory. Allport (1954) theorised that positive effects of intergroup contact occur in group situations where there is equal group status within the situation, common goals, intergroup cooperation and the support of authorities, law or custom. These positive effects change intergroup relationships through the changing of behaviour, the generation of affective ties and in-group reappraisal (Allport, 1954).

Previous research (Eskilson, 1995; Herek and Capitanio, 1996) found that the intergroup contact theory is very applicable to surrounding members of the non-policing LGB community, but there has only been one examination of whether the theory applies to transgender individuals (Walch, Sinkkanen, Swain, Francisco, Breaux and Sjoberg, 2012). As such, this theory has been consistent across other subgroups (for example: Anderson, 1995; Drew, 1988; Pettigrew, 1998; Smith, 1994) and is also relevant within the context of police culture. Further, the intergroup contact theory has been supported with diverse research methods yielding supportive results in the field (Meer and Freedman, 1966; Ohm, 1988), archive (Fine, 1979), survey (Jackman and Crane, 1986; Pettigrew, 1997a, b; Robinson, 1980; Sigelman and Welch, 1993) and laboratory (Cook, 1978, 1984; Desforges, Lord, Ramsey, Mason, Van Leeuwen, 1991).

Belkin and McNichol (2002), Miller et al. (2003) and Meyers et al. (2004) contributed valuable research on the inclusion of lesbian and gay identities within law enforcement, which could be connected to intergroup contact theory. Further, research on the attitudes

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and beliefs of heterosexual officers about LGB counterparts continues to grow (Bernstein and Kostelac, 2002; Lyon et al., 2008). Lewis (2003) stated that attitudes and beliefs about LGB individuals suggest that familiarity with LGB individuals is highly correlated with positive perceptions. In other words, a social connection to an LGB person reduces stigmas held against them. Yet there exists minimal research on heterosexual cisgender perspectives of transgender individuals, and no research on their perspectives within policing. The applicability of the intergroup contact theory will be revisited in the findings in chapter five.

Just like their American counterparts, most English and Welsh constables who disclosed that they worked alongside a transgender colleague stated that they had a better understanding of transgender identities than those who did not. Simon stated:

Honestly, I didn’t understand much about transgender identities until I worked with (constable name omitted), which is pretty sad because I am a gay man. Once I worked with her, and the more time I spent with her, the more I understood it. They face much different obstacles than we do, you know?

Simon was not the only British constable to disclose that he had learned more about transgender identities because he worked alongside one. Tony, who worked alongside the first transgender constable on his force, stated:

Because I spent more time with that constable, I was curious about why he feels the need to change genders. I realised that in his mind he felt that he has to wear women’s underwear. Right, whatever his desire was he felt he needed to wear a bra. As a woman wears a bra, he felt he had to wear it too. And that is the way it is. There has to be a place along the line for some people to … like that particular officer to feel as his body is. If that bucks the system, so be it, but how do we accept that and move forward in the force? Because even to this day I do not know. But I have definitely become more aware of transgender identities because of my encounters around that particular officer. So, I think that is a good thing about how transgender identities are now existing within policing.

Notably, Tony, unlike my other American, English or Welsh participants who disclosed that they had worked with a transgender colleague in the past, admitted that he was homophobic. Tony, a British constable who supervised a trans employee, disclosed a story in which his colleagues didn’t accept a transgender colleague. Tony stated he had to address a constable who was wearing women’s underclothing prior to transitioning because other constables were making fun of and saying negative things directed towards the constable. Tony stated that he told the constable that he95 could not wear women’s underwear underneath his uniform as it was visible underneath the white patrol shirt. When confronted, the trans constable countered that “female counterparts wear a white

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shirt to where you see a white bra underneath it”. Tony told the constable that he isn’t a woman, but agreed with the constable’s point and addressed the issue with his upper administration. During this time Tony disclosed that other constables were addressing the trans constable with derogatory terms like “he-she” and “freak”. Tony further stated:

I really felt sorry for this particular officer. Not because of what he decided to be but … or what he is … but because of the way he was treated by his peer group. And I didn’t know how to deal with it myself, and I laughed at him when he told me because I thought he was winding me up.

Tony continued:

He was basically a laughing stock. Right, he would wear ladies’ thongs into work, right, there were a few issues surrounding it. He was quite feminine in his approach; he would pluck his eyebrows, and do all the things that would be consistent with a gay man, or what a woman would do … He took the openness element of I am allowed to be trans and cross-dressing at work to the next level.

Yet, Tony, on a positive note, stated that currently he has become more “understanding” of trans identities through working alongside a trans officer. Therefore, personalised socialisation with a fellow trans colleague could arguably lead to a better, as Tony described it, “understanding” of transgender identities.