Sex change cop wants job back

Candidate ... Karen Gale wants to rejoin the Met Police

A FORMER cop who was made to quit the force after announcing he would undergo a sex change is hoping to return to the beat — as a POLICEWOMAN.

Karen Gale, 52 — formerly called Keith — was filmed having surgery as part of the Channel 4 series My Transsexual Summer.
When Keith, as a 26-year-old man, told his Metropolitan Police boss he wanted to become a policewoman, he was told he would have to resign.
More than two decades later, ex-officer Karen believes society is more tolerant of transsexuals and has applied to the Met to become a special constable.
Karen, from Purfleet, Essex, said: “I never thought they would allow gay, lesbian and transgender people in the police force, but things have really changed.
“I would love to get back in the force and I feel that I could help to make things better for other people.”
Karen was a constable in Romford for four years when her wife came home and found her dressed in women’s clothes.
After confessing her urge to live as a woman, Karen’s police bosses were adamant she had to leave. She had her surgery on the NHS last August.
Now she has attended a course run by the Met’s Transgender Team and decided to reapply after talking to transgender friends who have become officers.
Karen, who has a grown-up daughter, has to wait two months before learning if her application has been successful.
She said: “The Eighties was a bit of a rough time in the police force. There were riots, the miners’ strike and lots happening, but I just loved working as a police officer.
“A lot has changed since then and I will have to undergo the training again, but it would just be good.”