• Police expert on jihadist document falsification completes gender transition
• Maria Reina cites ‘unconditional support’ from police colleagues, superiors
A Catalan police agent and recognized expert on document falsification by terrorist groups has become the first transsexual member of Catalonia’s regional Mossos d’Esquadra police force.
Maria Reina, a 36-year-old Catalan police agent who was born a male and recently underwent a sex change operation, told the Barcelona daily La Vanguardia that she has received “unconditional support” from colleagues and superiors in the Catalan police force over her gender transition. An internationally recognized expert on the falsification of documents by jihadist and other terrorist groups, she nevertheless did meet with some disapproval from foreign colleagues when presiding over a recent meeting of the International Documents Police (Interdocpol) association.
Catalonia and other regions in Spain have been at the forefront in the growing acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual individuals in local, regional and national police forces, with the national Association of Gay and Lesbian Police (GAYLESPOL) playing a leading role in raising awareness in Spain and in Europe of the value to society of incorporating LGBT individuals into law enforcement.
► Read More in Spanish at La Vanguardia and 20 minutos …
