Thousands of British military personnel fired because they were gay will be able to recover their medals if they were taken away when they were kicked out of the army.
Gay rights activists hailed the move as the ‘first step on a journey’, but said issues such as the lasting criminal records, losing pension rights and still deficient service records should now be dealt with by the Ministry of Defense.
Gay men and lesbian women were banned in the British Army until 2000. About 200 to 250 are thrown out annually because of their sexuality, and their medals are regularly removed.
In some cases, medals were physically ripped from the uniform of a service person after a conviction to the military council. Those convicted of homosexuality sometimes served prison sentences, usually for several months.
Veteran Minister Johnny Mercer said the announcement “addresses a historic injustice”. He said it was meant to demonstrate that ‘the military is a positive place to work for all who choose to serve’, and encourages those who think they are eligible to apply.
Last year, Joe Ousalice, 70, a veteran of the Falklands, personally returned his medal for long service and good behavior by Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace, who was removed from him in 1993 to a military council.
Ousalice, who is bisexual, served 18 years as communications officer in the Royal Navy before being fired on charges he said were fabricated. He won his medal after initiating legal action, which led the MoD to apologize to him and promise to review the broader situation.
“It’s not nearly enough,” Ousalice said. ‘If they take your medal with you, the medal actually determines what you get for your pension. By taking my medal and three good behavioral badges I had, my rank was lowered. I had to wait up to 60 before retiring, while I could get it right away. ”
Craig Jones, the co-CEO of Fighting with Pride, a charity that supports LGBT + veterans, describes the move as the ‘first step on a journey’ and says he believes ministers like Mercer will go further.
‘People’s lives have been shattered by the ban. “We need to look at giving people back their orders and warrants, royal remission of convictions, assistance with resettlement – and yes, there is an overwhelming case for compensation and pension recovery,” Jones added.
The Ministry of Town says that the government is “investigating and understanding the great impact of the practice in the army before 2000”. The ministry said it would ensure that ‘the impact of this historic injustice is acknowledged and properly addressed, except for the return of medals’, although no further details were given.
Veterans kicked out before 2000 said they were the victims of covert investigations, including secret filming, or repeated harassment by military police over several years in an attempt to prove they were gay.
The last soldier to be sent to prison for being gay was David Bonney, who was convicted in 1993 by a military council in Cornwall. Bonney joined the RAF in 1987 at the age of 17, saying he “learned and accepted that I was gay” when he served during the first Gulf War.
Bonney said he was subjected to a two-year investigation after a Gay Times copy was found in his room. These include, he said, “cheating on my room, letting people follow, placing officers outside the local gay bars to spy on people entering, using the local police stations to take my friends to, to to interrogate them and to create fear and apprehension “among my friends and associates.”
The court-martial sentenced him to six months in prison, four of which he served, including one month in jail, and left him with a criminal record. – although his dismissal after an appeal was honorably changed. He said he hoped the ministry would amend and compensate for the injustice and the effective bullying I was experiencing.