Trans firefighter from Northern Ireland, Karen McDowell, has been awarded an MBE in the 2021 New Years honours list for her LGBTQ+ advocacy work and service to her community.
The station commander transitioned 10 years ago, and since then has continued to promote greater acceptance of trans and gender diverse people within the NI Fire and Rescue Service.McDowell, who said she was “shocked and humbled” to receive the honour, told the Belfast Telegraph: “Attitudes now are very different from what they were 10 years ago.
There would have been a lot more open prejudice and it [transitioning] wasn’t in the mainstream media the way it is now. People would have been afraid to express how that felt and that would have [been] prevalent.”Michael.