Christine Hug (1981 – 10 July 2023) was a Swiss military officer. In September 2019, she became the first openly transgender officer in the

Swiss Army The Swiss Armed Forces (; ; ; ; ) are the military and security force of Switzerland, consisting of land and air service branches. Under the country's militia system, regular soldiers constitute a small part of the military and the rest are ...

. Hug commanded the Panzer Battalion 12, which consisted of almost one thousand soldiers.

Early life

Hug was born in 1981 in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. She studied military history in school.

Career

Hug joined the

at the age of twenty, eventually reaching the rank of ''

Oberstleutnant () (English: Lieutenant Colonel) is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to lieutenant colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, ...

'' ( Lieutenant colonel) in the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

. She commanded the Panzer Battalion 12, consisting of seventy tanks and almost one thousand soldiers. In March 2019, after informing the Chief of the Armed Forces Lieutenant General

Philippe Rebord Philippe Rebord (born 22 April 1957) is a Swiss Lieutenant General. He served as the Chief of the Armed Forces beginning on 1 January 2017, succeeding André Blattmann. Rebord retired at the end of 2019 and was succeeded by Thomas Süssli. E ...

and Federal Councilor and Federal Department of Defense Head

Viola Amherd Viola Patricia Amherd (born 7 June 1962) is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2019 to 2025, and as President of the Swiss Confederation for 2024 between 1 January and 31 December. She was the head of the ...

, Hug came out as

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

, making her the first transgender officer in the Swiss Army. She then informed all members of the army whom she worked with, sending an email to seven hundred military staff. At the time that Hug came out, the Swiss Army considered transgender people to be medically unfit and would not consider them for military recruits. Hug advocated for women and transgender people to serve in the Swiss military.

Personal life

Hug was married and had one daughter. Hug was a

transgender woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

, and came out publicly in March 2020. Hug began

hormone replacement therapy Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. Effects of menopause can include symptoms such ...

two years prior, in 2017. In 2018, she underwent

gender-affirming surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associated ...

. She chose the name Christine after having a conversation with her parents, who said they would have named her that had she been assigned female at birth.

Death

On 10 July 2023, Hug died in an accident. She had been preparing to go on a vacation to Hungary with her wife and daughter with their horses when she was killed. While loading the horses into a trailer, Hug fell backwards and hit her head. She was taken to a hospital by helicopter, where she died from her injuries. After her death, President of the Swiss Officers' Society Dominik Knill, released a statement calling Hug a "loveable person and loyal comrade, but also a great and authentic representative of a pragmatic advancement of women in the army."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hug, Christine 1981 births 2023 deaths 21st-century Swiss LGBTQ people 21st-century Swiss military personnel Accidental deaths in Switzerland Deaths from head injury Lesbian military personnel Military personnel from Zurich Swiss lesbians Swiss transgender women Swiss military officers Transgender military personnel Transgender lesbians