Gregory Abbink joined the Austin Police Department several years ago, and then last April he made a decision to come out as transgender and transition to being a man.
Abbink, who was born Emily, wrote a letter to his fellow officers when he first began his transition from female to male ?In the letter, he said:
?I am more than happy to send any other information if you’d like. I pray that this doesn’t change our friendship as you all mean the world to me! As this transition will take a little while, I totally understand that it will be an adjustment for everyone. . . . I am always here for you guys!?
Officer Abbink says the response from his co-workers has been positive and supportive. And a big part of that begins with?Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo, who has long been a supporter of LGBT rights in his department. A Cuban immigrant, Acevedo says he knows only too well how if feels to be seen as different:
?I want to send a message that we stand with all communities. People can be who they want to be.?Inclusion starts at the top.?
Gregory Abbink, prior to his transition, identified as a lesbian, but he says that deep down inside he’s known he was a man since the age of five. But he was raised in a conservative community and feared saying how he felt:
?Growing up, I was forced to think and act like the other little girls around me ?All my mannerisms and interests were different from my female classmates, and I knew I was different. I loathed having to wear dresses or anything that identified me as female, because on the inside, I was screaming for someone to hear me?That I was a boy.”
Abbink met his current wife, Joan Henke, in 2009, and they married in 2012 as a same-sex couple. His transition has been difficult on her, Abbink admits, but then adds:
?She is one of those phenomenal and rare individuals who is able to love unconditionally, to love me for who I am.”
