Tomorrow marks the start of Transgender Awareness Week – a seven-day 'celebration' to raise the visibility of transgender and gender non-conforming people across the world.





For Linda-Jane Evans, who was born male, she always knew something wasn’t right.

She said: “I knew from a very early age that I was different, from about the age of six I felt more female but I couldn’t express it.”

The 44-year-old served for 22 years as a telecommunications specialist in RAF including stints in Bosnia and Iraq. She had a wife and a daughter, but continually knew she wasn’t living the life she wanted to.

And after joining BTP as a Control Room Communications Officer in Birmingham, L-J decided it was now or never to take the biggest step.

She said: “As of the 13th of May, I walked into the control room as myself, which was a very very big day for me. And all my colleagues supported me.

“It was lovely because I came into work and it was just a normal day.”

And when she told her family, her daughter cried. And not because she was ashamed, but because she was “crying for all the years you’ve had to hide it”.

L-J is sharing her story to make sure other people know they’re not alone.

On the rail network, hate crimes against the trans community recorded by BTP have increased by 71% compared to the same period last year and we want people to know that if you tell us about an offence, we will investigate. We want more people to report these horrific crimes to us.

L-J said: “Tell us. We need to be able to do something. If you don’t tell us, we can’t address it.”

To find out more about Transgender Awareness Week, visit www.glaad.org/transweek.

If you ever need any help on the rail network, call BTP on 0800 40 50 40 or text us on 61016.