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A female-to-male (FTM) transsexual police officer has successfully transitioned in Bountiful, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City.

Forty-two-year-old Corporal Kerry Bell, who has worked for the Bountiful Police Department for fourteen years, began his surgical and hormonal transition from female to male about a year and a half ago. Bell, who states he has always felt male, said he had no anxiety about coming out as transsexual to his fellow police officers.

Indeed, although some of his co-workers still have trouble remembering to use masculine pronouns to refer to Bell, they have otherwise been completely accepting. This is wonderful news not only for Bell, but also for the LGBT community as a whole: Given that most of the approximately 44,000 residents of Bountiful belong to the Mormon Church, which excommunicates members who undergo sex reassignment surgery, Bell might have expected a hostile reaction from his co-workers, rather than the warm welcome he received.

Congratulations are in order for Corporal Kerry Bell and the entire Bountiful Police Department.

For more info: Transgender officer living his dream–as a cop and a man

Megan Coffey, The Examiner
Photo: Leah Hogsten / The Salt Lake Tribune