How this RAF veteran became UK Armed Forces’ first publicly trans officer – and changed society in the process

Caroline Paige (Image: Attitude/Markus Bidaux)

“I got shot at plenty of times,” recalls Flight Lieutenant Caroline Paige MBE of her 35-year Royal Air Force (RAF) career, which began in 1980. “There were really scary moments. Flying jets in the 80s, we were losing 10 aircrew a year in accidents. It was the Cold War; you trained hard. The aeroplanes weren’t as advanced. I had crashes, which fortunately didn’t end up in injury. But coming out in that environment was far scarier. Nothing beats the fear of coming out to people you love as trans.”

In February 1999, while still in active service with the RAF, Paige came out at work, making history as the first publicly transgender officer to serve in the British armed forces. This, despite the UK’s LGBT

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