We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
The Sun / TwitterEXCLUSIVE: This soldier is Britain’s first woman on the front line - after being born a boy https://t.co/H45tSDsfCX pic.twitter.com/bSN94B2WRV
— The Sun (@TheSun) September 17, 2016
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.
Comments have now been disabled on this article
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
A man who says he’s a woman, is the first “woman” to serve on the fronline.
So a woman hasn’t actually served on the fronline yet then.
A victory for feminism!!
Would of been nice to see a before & after picture..
Does he or she know what side they’re on??
He looks the same before and after. He is still a man , just a very confused one.
@Clever Jake: so stop spreading hate Clever Jake!!!!!
Aw c’mon. First woman?
The whole article is an exercise in nonsensical delusion.
@Alan Tright: I wouldn’t refer to it as a delusion, mainly a dysphoria as trans people say they simply can’t identify with the gender they were born as.
I don’t mean to be politically incorrect… or whatever the bloody term is these days, but she still looks like he, could thump the ever loving shite out of the baddies.
If a man thinks he is a woman, it is contrary to reality and therefore a delusion.
There is no science to suggest otherwise, and it is still currently classified as a mental illness. This is not opinion, but the state of the science.
There has been no proof otherwise, and psychological treatment should be considered.
This is a significant break from reality….
I know PC commentators simply refuse to acknowledge his and say anyone can chose to be anything they want…..but does that really make sense?
P.S. There seems to be a lot of censorship of people’s comments and opinions in this thread.
I see reasonable comments being removed, without good reason, other than blatant bias and censorship.
Who is responsible for this?
Margie. . Got to agree with you this one . . Not really fair to take that trophy as the First woman …
@Suzie Sunshine: Plenty of Kurdish women fight on the front line against ISIS and the Turkish army. So this woman is nowhere the first to take part in combat operations.
@Dave Doyle: they’re talking about the British army.
@HelloGoogleTracking!: “f a man thinks he is a woman, it is contrary to reality and therefore a delusion.”
You are a very unpleasant troll that I rarely bother responding to, but let me point out here that gender identity disorder (GID), also often called gender dysphoria, is a condition that is recognised in numerous developed countries, including the UK (and Ireland). Here is some “easy reading” about it to get you started, and you can follow the references to go deeper into the matter.
Unless, of course, you prefer to continue being an ignorant bigot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_dysphoria
@ Fintan
Your insults are consistent with a troll, but I will ignore them.
My points are accurate, and I am familiar with gender identity disorder, which is a recognised mental illness.
This mental illness is defined by the delusion that a man is a woman (most commonly), when that is obviously not the case.
That is why it is a mental illness.
So I am at a loss as to what your point was?
You calm me a bigot because I quote accurate medical facts?
As usual you diverge sharply from rationality, and reason, and logical progression of thought. You have a “belief” because you think most people will agree with you, no independent thought at all
I hope the enemy make sure they use the correct pronouns.
@Alan Tright: TOPKEK
First transgender soldier – that took balls.
@Joey_Wasteland “That took balls —-”
It says in the article: Chloe is a rifleman in the Scots Guards and a driver of armoured trucks. Her role also includes ceremonial duties like guarding Buckingham Palace.”
How big does one’s balls have to be before one can drive a vehicle or stand guard outside a tourist resort?
Missing, One unused sense of humour, If found please return to @Fintan Oflaois C/O the Journal.ie
@Motherofdivinejebus:
Fintan O’Flush as he’s affectionately known to me.
I can imagine I am I millionaire, it does not make it real.
And I cannot demand people treat me like a millionaire……
It would be crazy
Listen, if you wanna act like the guy who tips €100 every time I’ll just say that you’re more than welcome on my workplace any time!
Haha sorry can’t….
I can just demand special treatment, and to be served as a VIP….I have nothing to back it up except my conviction……but I really really believe it
Born a boy. Always a boy. Born a girl always a girl. No frame of mind or surgery can change that.
What are your qualifications in this field?
All inclusive imperialism
“I’d love to inspire people to come out and be themselves” I would have thought he was doing the opposite
@thejynxeffect: And you take every evert to express that refusal to be informed opinion of yours on every transgender related article on the journal. We get it. You believe it is your god given right to decide who everyone else should be regardless of the fact that you don’t know the person’s whom you dedicate to or the fact that they are the only person that has the right to identify who they are.
Your man doesn’t even look like a woman :-/
Or not.
There was actually a woman in the Scots Greys in the 19th Century who got through a career as a man including fighting battles. So technically the statement isn’t accurate. People are divided on the matter as to whether the rest of the regiment knew or not lol.
I wonder did she tell her wife of her plans before they got married?
He and his *
So a woman hasn’t served on the front line then. A man who wants to be a woman is.
So when the actual first woman serves on the front line is she just gonna to be a footnote in the history books?
No issues with transgender people but it’s not heroic and extremely patronizing to be portrayed as such. Oh and BTW the British army will pay the price for this it’s a one way ticket to an eventual huge claim by the person in question. I predict a lawsuit for discrimination within 6 months.
Chloe Allen Chloe Allen….so good they named her twice?
I suppose if Caitlin Jenner can win woman of the year,while still packing,then anything is possible in this mad world
Why do I bother looking at the comments on articles like this. Really fed up with all the transphobic bile that permeates the comments section on the journal. Just know that about 40% of trans people either consider or attempt suicide and your comments contribute to that. That those that permeate violence against trans folk feel legitimised by discussion on forums like this. I’m not going to rabbit on about censorship but your seemingly flippant comments have real consequences.
@Kevin Carroll: Transphobic? Amazing that critics of people who express an opinion can be diagnosed as having a mental illness of irrational fear.
I wonder though, does that diagnosis refer to Transabled and Transracial also? Or even Trans-species?
Your answer doesn’t make much sense. So someone with gender dysphoria is merely expressing an opinion? Is that how you legitimise ignoring years of scientific, sociologic, anthropologic research and countless lived experiences? Or perhaps you’ve taken what I’ve said personally and feel fragile to an extent you feel the need to be victimised somehow by contorting what I’ve said into some sort of pseudo diagnosis. You certainly haven’t addressed any of the points I’ve made and seem happy to take what I’ve said about the damage your flippant comment can make and made it about yourself.
Gender dysphoria is a mental illness, as you well know, you will find it in all medical textbooks.
Should people challenge it or appease it? The jury is out regardless of your single opinion.
@Kevin Carroll: Do you accept transracialism Kevin? Or transabledism? Or Trans-speciessm?
Are we to tiptoe around everyone who might get upset? This guy has put himself in the public eye, so criticism of his delusion is valid.
@joe
Prepare for your rational points to be deleted. Only one view is permitted !!!
Some serious censorship on this thread….
The thought police are out in force
@HelloGoogleTracking!:
That doesn’t surprise me.
That notion is changing as well. Being transgender in of itself isn’t a mental illness but the resulting pain and trauma brought upon by living in a society that does not largely accept and is often overtly hostile to people who exist outside the established gender binary does need to be acknowledged and treated.
What notion is changing?
Gender dysphoria is currently classified in medical science as a mental illness, this is a fact.
Are you suggesting that and individual with multiple personalities is several people? Often with various genders, should we give out multiple passports, and change our pronouns to match mental illness?
Or should we treat it?
Please provide a rational reasoning logical argument to defend your point of view, supported by science would be great
@Kevin Carroll: Gender is binary. It is not a spectrum despite attempts to make it so. The vast majority of people understand this, even some of the virtue signallers who publicly conform to the PC agenda.
What notion is changing? Do you accept transracialism?
@Joe. No I Dont. Nor would anyone rationally equate them with someone who’s transgender unless they were trying to deflect with a grotesque argument to deflect from the obvious harm their thoughtless comments can have on people. Trans people Dont just get upset they often die either from suicide or are murdered and your comments can and do contribute to those consequences. her gender is not a delusion, its an integral and legitimate part of her identity and countless studies in the fields of science, psychology, sociology and anthropology attest to that.
@helloetc well that’s about to change and multiple personality disorder is a completely different issue and not related; http://www.sciencealert.com/the-un-is-finally-going-to-declassify-transgender-as-a-mental-illness
It is a medical condition, and is gender identity disorder.
A political change is not the answer, medical science is the answer.
There has been no proof, or science to prove the theory that it is not a illness.
All evidence points to a mental disorder, and misfiring of the brain, very similar to multiple personality disorder, and delusions, and all other mental illnesses.
That is currently the definition under science, and politics should not interfere in medical matters…..for obvious reasons.
Gender is not a binary, its a social construct, like race but has a very real impact on our lives and physical impact on our brains. Other genders have and do exist in other cultures outside the west for millennia. Its only since industrialisation that the concept of a gender binary has solidified, it has no scientific basis.
@Kevin Carroll: So I’m a murderer? You really have embraced the regressive left logic with gusto.
Transgenderism and transracialism arerooted in the same philosophy of identity politics and attention seeking. You accept that transracialism is false but cannot stretch your reasoning to the delusion of transgenderism.
You obviously do not accept the concept of human agency. My opinions do not make anyone do anything they don’t want to do, that is a leftist attempt to shut people up.
It is you who define my arguments as grotesque, that doesn’t make it true, except in your head.
His delusion is not, in my opinion, legitimate. He can call himself a table leg, it still doesn’t make him one.
@helloetc OK where’s your evidence? Here’s mine: https://tranzgendr.com/gender-identity-not-mental-illness-according/
@Kevin Carroll: Gender is not a social construct (i wondered when that old chestnut would turn up), a pathologist can look at a skeleton on a slab and tell if it is male or female. That’s biological.
@kevin
Just read the : Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – I believe the current edition is the 5th.
This is the definitive reference, not a opinion, or a pressure group website, or biased appeasement and delusion
@joe you think you’re arguing or debating but you’re not. Pretty much every point I’ve made you’ve made about yourself. You accuse me of having an agenda, you pluck made up terms out of the air and you lump spurious accusations at me. You haven’t addressed a single point I’ve made, just reasserted the same made up notions with no basis in any research or reference and backed up with nothing other than your own opinion.
@Kevin,
Provide scientific proof, if you have any.
Science can prove the biological gender, and you want me to accept someone believing they are something they are not is rational?
As human beings we can imagine anything we want, and mental illness is real.
Do you accept mental illness is real? If you do how do you distinguish gender identity disorder from mental illness in your own mind?
Gender is a social construct Joe. There are genders out there whcih conform to neither male nor female – the Hijras of India/Pakistan/Bangladesh are the best-known example. You’re thinking of anatomical sex, which is biological (although even this isn’t strictly binary – people can be born intersex as a result of extra chromosomes).
@joe. Gender is a social construct, sex is biological. About 1% of people Dont even fit into what constitutes male or female in terms of sex either. A pathologist can make an educated opionon as to the sex of a skeleton but not a definite conclusion. They wouldn’t be able to tell the colour of their eyes or hair based on a skeleton so that argument is spurious anyway.
@Kevin Carroll: Spurious accusations? Such as?
Can a pathologist look at a skeleton and identify it as male or female? Is that not factual? How can one delusion, transracialism be false and another transgenderism not be? A bit of cherrypicking there.
I haven’t accused you of anything. I stated that you have embraced the regressive left agenda with gusto. Your language and ideas are testament to that.
@helloetc here you go: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-009-9532-4
@Harry Whitehead: Because people elsewhere call transgenderism by a different name and for a long time doesn’t make it any more valid than the recent rise of the disorder in the west.
What chromosomal disorders are you referring to?
XXY or Klinefelter’s syndrome is one of the more common ones (males born with an extra X chromosome, meaning they have 47 rather than 46)
Yes it is Vincent. It’s every bit as real and unpleasant as homophobia. Victims of transphobia have been subjected to verbal and physical harrasment, sexual assaults and murder. All because some people hate them for being ‘different’. Perhaps you never heard of what happened to Brandon Teena? By all means laugh it off if it makes you feel a bigger person.
@vincent yup ha ha! https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/transphobia
Wow, there’s a shocking amount of numpties out there who thumb down comments which aren’t even opinions – they are statements of fact. Must feel really clever…
@kevin
That is an opinion piece debating ideas.
Not a piece of scientific proof.
Explain how the delusion that you are a different gender than you are different from any other delusion.
Seriously explain it scientifically or rationally please
@helloetc its not its academic research. Check the references for about 58 citations from other academic research
Facts…citations…grrr…can’t compute… *bashes head against wall and goes back to guffawing mindlessly at crass jokes*
@Kevin
I could quote academic research denying climate change, it is still wrong, and climate change is real.
Likewise the GID is the accepted consensus of mental health and biological sciences. Fringe theories mixed with pseudo science, and combined with political pressure, and the herd mentality of political correctness. And a victim culture claiming special treatment does not change reality.
If you believe someone thinking they are a woman, when they are not is healthy then I would love to hear why
Fintan, a guard on royal duties can be sent to war any time,just as reservists or here the FCA ,if you are in the army you are a soldier .
@Timmy Sharpe: Try telling that to the Israelis and Norwegians, among others, who actually conscript women into their armed forces.
have your say