Episode 2 - WO2 Deborah Penny
In this episode James sits down with Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2) Deborah Penny, who was born in 1966 in Karachi West, Pakistan and joined the army in September 1982. WO2 Penny came out to the army and her family and friends as Transgender in 2004, four years after the ban on LGBT+ soldiers serving had been lifted. In 2006, with the army's support, she was able to start the journey to transition which took until 2010. In 2012 she deployed to Afghanistan and became the first Transgender soldier on the front line. Following this she used her experiences to provide advice to the Chain of Command on Transgender issues and set up a network for women and LGBT+ personnel. Deborah talks about the difficult decisions she had to make whilst balancing her career with her gender identity, what the most common misconceptions are about transpeople and how she formed a lesbian motorcycle club.