Trans PC outed by inspector thought it would be the end of her career

PC Bee Bailey said she tried to be herself, but in a ‘hidden sense’ (Picture: Bee Bailey/BPM)

A police officer was left feeling mortified and afraid after she was outed by a colleague for being transgender.

PC Bee Bailey thought that was the end of her career, fearing she’d be fired or hounded by the press.

But she has since gone on to enjoy an illustrious 22 year career in Gloucestershire Constabulary, which has helped her grow into a far more confident person.

Bee has worked as an ambassador for trans officers in Europe and has delivered presentations with everyone from frontline cops and then Prime Minister Theresa May.

Sharing her story, Bee told how after a bad day at work as a graphic artist, she came across a job as for Gloucestershire Constabulary in the newspaper.

She felt inspired to do something different and took the force up on its offer, but when she received her acceptance letter, she started having doubts.

Bee, who lives in South Gloucestershire, says she suddenly thought ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to have to give up being trans’.

She desperately tried to hide who she really was because she thought the force would not tolerate it.

Bee said: ‘When I joined the police, I used to joke that I was a “crime-fighting superhero by day, and a princess by night”, and the two were never going to meet.

‘I remember going out for the last time and thinking “This is absolutely it, I cannot be found out for this because I’ll be fired”.

Bee said she feared being ‘smashed by the press’ (Picture: BristolLive/BPM)

‘Being fired was the best option in my head – the worst being I could have been smashed by the press.

‘The press were a very different animal then, you used to see phrases like “gender bender cop”. It was not nice stuff, and it was always the worst choice photograph.

After a few weeks in the police force, Bee tried to be herself, but in a ‘hidden sense’. She returned to her social life as Bee, but still kept things under wraps at work.

She said: ‘I was working in Stroud at the time, and I knew it likely wouldn’t be tolerated or be an easy journey if I was found out.

‘We have a professional standards department, and I’d feel physically sick if I saw somebody I didn’t know in the station in a dark suit.

‘The positive twist is that I would live policing to the absolute full, so if lights and sirens could go on, they went on because I was waiting month in, month out to be found out, sacked, and end up in the press.

‘My arrest rates were the highest for about eight months at Stroud Police Station.’

A few years passed, and Bee began to head down the route of gender affirming surgery.

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