Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
LGBT VETERANS REMEMBER WITH
FORCES veterans jailed or booted out for being gay will lay an official wreath at the Cenotaph for the first time on Remembrance Sunday.
The LGBT support group Fighting With Pride has at last won the right to join the march-past watched by the Queen at the November ceremony organised by the Royal British Legion.
The group will field at least 22 vets in the 10,000 turn-out – with ex-Nursing Corps lieutenant Elaine
Chambers as the proud wreath bearer.
Elaine, 60, from the Isle of Wight, was kicked out of the Army in 1988 over false accusations of indecent assault after becoming involved with another woman.
She said: “It will be the first time I have worn a
Royal Army Nursing
Corps beret since I left.
“It will be an emotional and proud moment. I feel very moved and honoured.”
Elaine will be joined in the front rank of the
LGBT contingent by former Navy medic Chris
Ferguson, 60, and ex-naval officer Duncan LustigPrean, 62, who added:
“There’s a real sense of pride that there will be people who are openly gay marching.
“But above all this is an act of remembrance. It is right gay people are represented – but this is about all those who gave their lives for their country.”
Dismissed former Army postal worker Sharon Hudson, 61, will also be there. She said: “I will feel proud to march past the Cenotaph. Because of what happened I never considered myself a veteran until I became involved with Fighting with Pride.”
Although homosexuality was legalised in Britain in 1967 it remained a criminal offence in the military until 2000. Up to 20,000 gay servicemen and women were dismissed from the armed forces, while others were jailed.
Many had medals ripped from their uniforms in shaming rituals while others were forbidden from wearing items of military uniform at remembrance ceremonies. Fighting with Pride is campaigning to have medals returned, compensation for loss of pensions and Royal pardons for those who have suffered for the last 21 years.
The precedent was set by wartime Bletchley Park codebreaker Alan Turing, who received a posthumous pardon in 2013 after being convicted of gross indecency with another man in 1952 and chemically castrated.
His family now backs FWP. His nephew, solicitor Sir Dermot Turing, said: “The FWP mission is one which we happily support.”
Many of those dismissed were thrown out under the catch-all offence of “conduct pre-judicial to military discipline”.
Labour’s Dan Carden said: “Laying a wreath at the Cenotaph is of huge significance to the thousands of LGBT+ veterans who endured abhorrent treatment when they were serving their country.
“In the 21 years since the ban was lifted, nothing has been done to put right this historic wrong. These veterans were treated with cruelty by the British state.
“They deserve an apology on behalf of the nation by the Prime Minister and appropriate reparations. Until that is done, this will remain a matter of national shame.”
Former RAF Flt Lieutenant Caroline Paige, 61 – the first transgender officer to serve openly in the UK Armed Forces – is joint chief executive of Fighting With Pride. She saw service in Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan. Caroline, who will be among the marchers, said: “Armed forces LGBT+ personnel have served throughout history. The opportunity to honour them while paying my respects to all who made the ultimate sacrifice will be a humbling privilege.”
Her fellow CEO Lt Commander Craig Jones, 53, added: “We are one military family and that family grows more inclusive day by day.”