U.K. Prime Mister Rishi Sunak has apologized for the treatment of gay veterans by sayg that a prev ban on LGBTQ+ people servg the U.K. ary was “an appallg failure of the Brish state.”
Contents:
- I'M A GAY ARMY OFFICER—QUEER TROOPS MT FIGHT BACK
- RISHI SUNAK APOLOGIS TO LGBT VETERANS FOR PAST ARMED FORC GAY BAN
- ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS
- IN SOUTH KOREA, GAY SOLDIERS CAN SERVE. BUT THEY MIGHT BE PROSECUTED.
I'M A GAY ARMY OFFICER—QUEER TROOPS MT FIGHT BACK
It was illegal to be gay the UK ary until 2000 and Rishi Sunak has said sorry to those who were sacked or forced out. * gay allowed in army *
Sce 2011, openly gay, lbian and bisexual men and women have been permted to serve the ary. It wasn’t until 1982 that the ary enacted a policy explicly banng gay men and lbians om their ranks. And the early 1940s, was classified as a mental illns, disqualifyg gay men and lbians om service.
RISHI SUNAK APOLOGIS TO LGBT VETERANS FOR PAST ARMED FORC GAY BAN
Twelve years after repeal of the ban on gay and lbian troops servg openly, no one the ary or Veterans Admistratn knows how many vets are still whout the benefs they're owed. * gay allowed in army *
Eighteen years later, Congrs repealed the policy, allowg openly gay, lbian and bisexual people to serve the ary. It was illegal to be gay the UK ary until 2000 and Rishi Sunak has said sorry to those who were sacked or forced out.
“Durg this time, many have suffered the most horrific sexual abe and vlence, homophobic harassment, while urageoly servg this untry, ” he ntued.
"Today, on behalf of the Brish state, I apologise, " Rishi Sunak a change the law 2000, lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr people were not allowed to serve the Brish army. But as a gay man, I have been fightg my whole life to enjoy the very privileg I am entled to as both a beholr and protector of them.
ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS
The ary ban, which was lifted 2000, meant that gay people were dishonourably discharged and sometim, stripped of medals. * gay allowed in army *
I was one of few soldiers who joed the service before graduatg high school, but the admistratn at the time, which I believe was homophobic, chose to act as if I never existed bee of my queer hate that I experienced growg up on Long Island was my first enunter wh how others would treat me as a queer soldier. After takg a few sends, she said: ‘Durg that time [Kelly was the army om 1998-1997] there was a wch hunt, where they were purposely gog to barracks and tryg to fd people who were nsired, possibly, to be gay. Prime Mister Rishi Sunak apologised on behalf of the ernment (Picture: AP)It was illegal to be gay the Brish ary until 2000, and Sunak lled this fact an ‘appallg failure’ and apologised on behalf of the ernment.
Servg personnel spected of beg gay, lbian, bisexual or transgenr ed to be tensely qutned and subjected to distrsg medil spectns.
IN SOUTH KOREA, GAY SOLDIERS CAN SERVE. BUT THEY MIGHT BE PROSECUTED.
Most lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr service members are still reluctant to disclose their sexual orientatn or inty. * gay allowed in army *
Kelly has fought for the apology (Picture: Jeremy O’Donnell/Shutterstock)Some even served time behd bars due to the ary crimal offence of beg homosexual. Kelly Holm was an Army sergeant (Picture: PA)‘As today’s report mak clear, that perd many endured the most horrific sexual abe and vlence, homophobic bullyg and harassment, all while bravely servg this untry, ’ said Sunak.
Not only was agast the ary regulatns, gay sex was still illegal Virgia, and many other stat.
Army Chief General Bip Rawat has led out cln of gay soldiers ary, sayg Indian Army is not “wternised”, and was “nservative” . * gay allowed in army *
"They threw me the brig, put me on bread and water — was huiatg --for beg gay, " says Steffanis. Rumors sprouted about how he wasn't datg women or had reported on others for g homophobic slurs. In the years sce, the tegratn of gay and lbian troops has been herald as a huge succs wh no effects on un hn or bat reads, acrdg to the Pentagon.
At the time was uncharted terrory, and Alexanr, by then a litenant lonel, sat a room full of senr officers talkg about how to handle gay service members. Alexanr's first project was wh the San Francis-based veterans chary Swords to Plowshar, tryg to help gay veterans wh other-than-honorable discharg. "I put up flyers all over the Bay Area the gay bars, plac I knew that the LGBTQ veterans would equent.
WASHINGTON -- Sce Maj. Gen. Tammy Smh, the ary’s hight-rankg openly gay officer, me out 2012, she has tried beg an example of livg... * gay allowed in army *
And that's where he met Stephan Steffanis, 20 years sce his discharge om the Navy for beg gay. “As today’s report mak clear, that perd many endured the most horrific sexual abe and vlence, homophobic bullyg and harassment, all while bravely servg this untry, ” Sunak told MP. Promisg the ernment would implement the “vast majory” of Etherton’s remendatns, Wallace said he would fully update the Commons a formal bate about the issue after the about pensatn, Wallace said he hoped to fd “an elegant solutn that match the need and the requirements of those dividuals”, promisg to set this out after Kelly Holm, who served the army and me out as gay last year, was among mpaigners who weled the apology.
Starmer said one of his nstuents, Ken Wright, a former RAF service member who was “forced to leave the job he loved simply bee he was gay”, was the public gallery to hear the apology. Image source, Emma RileyImage ptn, Rad operator Emma Riley was discharged om the Navy for beg a lbian the 1990sRishi Sunak has apologised for the historil treatment of LGBT veterans who were sacked or forced out of the ary for beg PM lled the ban an "appallg failure" of the Brish was illegal to be gay the Brish ary until 2000 - wh thoands of veterans thought to be affected. Addrsg MPs, the prime mister said: "Many endured the most horrific sexual abe and vlence, homophobic bullyg and harassment all while bravely servg this untry.
"The LGBT Veterans Inpennt Review, led by Bra's first openly gay judge Lord Etherton, began last year and heard about the experienc of 1, 145 veterans between 1967 to 2000. Acrdg to the report, the Mistry of Defence said at the time that jtifitn for the policy clud "matenance of operatnal effectivens and efficiency" - but the report said there had been an "prehensible policy of homophobic bigotry" the armed forc. It heard shockg acunts of homophobia, bullyg, blackmail, sexual asslts, "disgraceful" medil examatns, and nversn mak 49 remendatns to the ernment cludg:Affected veterans to be given an "appropriate fancial reward" pped at £50m overallThe rtoratn of medals that had to be hand back on dismissal or dischargeThe clarifitn of pensn rights The prentatn of a special veterans' badgeThe ernment said would rpond full after summer of the veterans affected watched the PM's public of them, Emma Riley, 51, was a Royal Navy rad operator for three years before she was arrted and discharged for beg a lbian after tellg a lleague her sexualy the early told BBC News she weled the report, and hoped would be put to place "swiftly.
The Uned Stat ary stggled wh s stance on gay service members for s prr to the signg of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” 1993 by former Print Bill Clton., * gay allowed in army *
Carol Man, who was dismissed after tellg her boss she was gay 1978, kept her sexualy secret for another 30 years and said she had been "robbed" of her life. "Olympian Dame Kelly Holm, who served the army and me out as gay last year, lled the publitn of the report a "historic moment", while Cathere Dixon, a former army officer who is now vice chair at Stonewall, said was "an important step towards jtice" for those whose ary reers were "ed" bee of their sexualy.
Soldiers reprentg the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer muny virtually celebrated Pri Month Thursday * gay allowed in army *
Many still have a crimal rerd to this also tails how some veterans faced a plete loss of e, while others were emed eligible to claim their pensn bee of their report more than 20 years after four servicemen and women, who were sacked for beg gay, won a se the European Court of Human Rights and overturned the armed forc chary Royal Brish Legn lled on the ernment to accept the report's remendatns chary's director general Charl Byrne weled both the report and Mr Sunak's "landmark apology", sayg many people who had dited their liv to the untry were "forced or felt prsured to leave the armed forc, and this mistreatment stroyed or shortened their reer".
* gay allowed in army *
On 12 January 2000 the way the Brish ary treated homosexualy wh s ranks changed until then, gay, lbian and bisexual people had been banned om servg the Brish Army, Royal Navy and RAF. Half a after the repeal of don’t ask, don’t tell, most lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr service members still felt reluctant to be open about their sexualy wh their lleagu and cha of mand, acrdg to a study released late study, published by the journal Sexualy Rearch and Social Policy, found that 59 percent of rponnts did not feel fortable beg out at work, eher bee of reer repercsns or bee of the burn of beg a token rponsible for tg their peers.
”Dpe the orrs om above, many veterans publicly opposed the 2011 repeal of the ban on gay, lbian and bisexual service for troops who had grown up that environment, the policy’s mise did not flip a swch terms of fort level ― theirs or their lleagu.