Transgender air officer wins Qld honour

A transgender military officer has been named the Queensland Australian of the Year for 2016 at a ceremony in Brisbane.

RAAF Group Captain Catherine McGregor has become a transgender advocate since publicly announcing she was changing her gender from male in 2012.

She has been credited with boosting understanding and acceptance of the transgender community in Australia.

Gp Capt McGregor said the award, handed to her at a ceremony at the State Library of Queensland on Friday night, shows the huge shift in society's attitude to diversity.

"The Queensland I was born into could not have accepted me as the trans woman I am," the 59-year-old told AAP.

"An awful lot has changed since then, and is still changing in an amazing way.

"To win this award would be an incredible milestone and shows the change in attitude to transgenderism."