Caroline Paige has enjoyed a diverse career in the military, renowned as the first transgender officer to serve openly in the UK Armed Forces. Having joined the military in 1980, Caroline soon realised that she must resolve her life-long battle with her identity, and made the transition to female in 1999. Publicly outed, Caroline has since made great changes for the LGBT+ community within the military, and is currently the Joint CEO of Fighting With Pride. Also booked as a speaker for a variety of events themed around LGBT+ acceptance and the military, don’t miss out on an influential speech from Caroline Paige today!
Back in 1980, Caroline joined the Royal Air Force, upon completion of Navigator Training at RAF Finningley. After passing her training, Caroline was posted to an Air Defence role at RAF Leuchars, and later went on to serve in the Cold War, Gulf War and Bosnia Conflict intercepting Soviet bomber planes. Caroline also served in Battlefield Helicopters, performing operational tours across Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia. In 1998, Caroline transitioned to female, and in 2000 she was publicly outed by The Sun newspaper. Caroline continued to work in the military until 2014, pioneering LGBT+ acceptance and becoming an Equality & Diversity Adviser for the Armed Forces. Caroline also acted as a member of the RAF LGBT Forum and Proud2Serve.
Caroline’s service earned her great respect, honoured with a Permanent-Under-Secretary Ministry of Defence Peoples Award in 2011 and two Commander Joint Helicopter Command Commendations for ‘Exceptional Service’. She also received a Commendation from the Commander-In-Chief of the Royal Air Force during the 2012 Queen’s New Years Honours. Since her retirement from the forces, Caroline has become a Patron of the Liverpool City Region Pride Foundation and a Stonewall School Role Model, also volunteering as part of the Outing the Past team for Schools OUT UK. Caroline has also turned her hand to writing, having authored True Colours: My Life as the First Openly Transgender Officer in the British Armed Forces and co-authored Fighting With Pride.
Having also been the Director of CazTac Ltd, a company facilitating the teaching of tactical skills and knowledge for battlefield helicopter crews, Caroline is now highly sought after as a speaker for a range of speaking engagements. Having spent her career fighting for acceptance, Caroline is booked as a passionate LGBT+ advocate who spreads awareness of the importance of LGBT+ inclusion not only in the military but in society as a whole. Having already shared her story on This Morning, Caroline is guaranteed to motivate increased acceptance of the LGBT+ community and emphasises the struggles that this community has faced throughout history. Having also previously spoken as a panel member of the Perspectives on Transgender Military Service From Around The Globe conference, book Caroline Paige today for an informed speech on LGBT+ representation and the military.
Books
True Colours: My Life as the First Openly Transgender Officer in the British Armed Forces
How to hire Caroline Paige
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Caroline Paige for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events
"Caroline delivered an exceptional session which we received brilliant feedback for, with her story touching many people at UCAS. Caroline herself was warm, open and inspiring and it was a pleasure having her speak at our pride month event" - Jess, Talent Acquisition Advisor & Wellbeing Lead, UCAS
"Pass on my thanks to Caroline for her talk today. It was so well received by our staff at Travel Chapter and I've had several people message me directly saying how inspiring they found it. These were some of the comments posted on the team chat: 'So inspiring. Thank you for sharing your journey', 'What an incredible story. Thanks for sharing, it really puts things into perspective', 'Caroline you are an inspiration. As a mother of a son, I would accept him and his choices whatever. And if he achieves a fraction of what you have in life, I would be exceptionally proud. Thank you for sharing', 'Thank you so much for sharing your story with us Caroline, your bravery is so inspirational', 'Absolute inspiration - You have personally helped me so much and can't wait to share your story with my Niece Jamie - Will be buying your book to share with her too. Thank you so much' and 'The world needs more people like you Caroline, thank you for sharing your story'." - Ruth, Senior Research & Content Writer, Travel Chapter
"Caroline was superb and we have had amazing feedback from the event, so the pleasure was all ours!" - Jonny, XPS Administration
“Pass on our thanks to Caroline for a phenomenal session. The feedback has been brilliant and colleagues found her story incredibly emotional, but truly inspiring. She was very honest in not only her account, but also in her answering of the questions that were raised on the call. Thank you very much for her time.” – Annette, Head of Talent & Development, Pennon Group PLC
- 2020 - Joint CEO & Co-Chair of Fighting With Pride
- 2017 - Author of True Colours: My Life as the First Openly Transgender Officer in the British Armed Forces
- 2016 - Director of CazTac Ltd
- 2012 - Commendation from the Commander-In-Chief of the Royal Air Force in the Queen's New Year Honours
- 1980 - Joined the Royal Air Force
- First Transgender Officer to serve openly in the UK Armed Forces
- Patron of Liverpool City Region Pride Foundation
- Stonewall School Role Model
- Co-Author of Fighting With Pride
- Honoured twice with Commander Joint Helicopter Command Commendations for 'Exceptional Service'
