Veterans kicked out of armed forces under 'gay ban' to get £75m. But can it right the wrongs?

MPs in Westminster are being treated to an unusual sight. Veterans in berets from across the UK will gather at the House of Commons for a long awaited debate about righting the wrongs of a ‘gay ban’ in the armed forces. The ban was a policy which made homosexuality illegal for all servicemen and women until 2000.

The government has said they will be giving £75m in reparations to LGBTQ+ veterans discharged under the ban, up from the previously announced £50m.

Today is a big day. Finally, a full parliamentary debate will take place where MPs from across the party political divide share harrowing testimonies of constituents who’ve lost careers, livelihoods, mental health and friends to the historic ban. But the veterans will step up to the dignity and comradeship of the moment.

They are mustering outside parliament in berets and mirror-like polished shoes; some will wear their medals. No doubt, they’ll bolster each other with encouraging smiles and jokes but all of them know the seriousness of the moment.

• ‘I was terrified I would be sent to prison for being gay in the armed forces. I had a mental health crisis’
• People were sacked and imprisoned for being gay in the armed forces. Now they are fighting for justice

It marks the end to more than one year’s waiting for the government to reveal the reparations funds to right the wrongs of the gay ban in the armed forces.

Under the new scheme, up to £70,000 is said to be available to each veteran who was dismissed because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.  

Making the announcement, defence secretary, John Healey described the treatment during the policy as a “moral stain on our nation”. 

We at Fighting With Pride (alongside many brave ex-service people) have worked tirelessly to make clear to relevant ministers and government officials that more was needed than an average of £12,500 per individual – which is what the initial proposal of £50m would have meant. 

So, we cautiously welcome the new funds. They don’t compensate for everything veterans faced and have lost – some will be disappointed.  But it’s our sincere hope these payments go some way to providing greater comfort and security in later life and offer some sense of justice.

To rewind on this ban and how it impacted. The policy cruelly punished LGBTQ+ service men and women for who they were and who they loved and saw many subjected to brutal interrogation, dismissal and some imprisoned. Many suffered the lifelong impact of lost careers, pensions and poor mental health.

Anne Myles was in the Royal Air Force from 1977 to 1984, she told researchers of the Lost and Found report by Northumbria University, 

“It took away my career, it took away my pension, it took away my future. It utterly destroyed it and took away a job I know I was good at… it just took away my home, my livelihood, my future, career, pension. It doesn’t really get much worse than that, does it?” 

I was one of the ‘lucky’ ones. For the 20-plus years I served as an officer in the Royal Navy, including time in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, during my service during the ban I lived and worked in fear of imprisonment, in constant dread of being ‘caught’ but never actually being outed.

By the time the ban was lifted in 2000 – a day I’ve spoken about to the Big Issue, when I came out to colleagues – I’d already suffered a mental health crisis brought on by the combination of a pressured secret life and grief. But I was lucky because I wasn’t dismissed or interrogated.

In the last month, I published a new book, ‘Serving with Pride’ which gives detailed personal accounts of people subjected to horrific special military police investigations, rooms ransacked, marched off the premises. Such was the prevalent homophobia of the time that some were wrongly accused of being homosexual based on prejudice. Others were forcibly subjected to degrading examinations by medical staff.

As one former serviceman has said: “They [special military police] took me to the medical centre. He said, right, because we think you’re gay, we need a medical exam. The medical officer was a reserve officer, lovely lady and she said, look what they want me to do is stick my finger up your bottom to see if there is a reflex, a reflex of your sphincter. So apparently if it does something, she said… She said, its complete balderdash, but I have to do it and we were both in tears at this point.”

12 January 2025 marks the 25^th anniversary of the European Court of Human Rights’ ruling to outlaw the gay ban.

As the veterans gather in parliament they are a significant step closer to being able to live the rest of their lives with some comforts. Indeed, the applications process for financial reparations opens on the day after the announcement.

Whilst we cautiously welcome this historic development, some veterans will be disappointed. The one-off payments are not a silver bullet. At Fighting With Pride we’ll monitor the situation all the time. With the lost pensions, a one-off lump sum payment won’t alleviate the longterm financial worries for those who’ve  suffered lost careers and income, simply for who they are and love.  

Recovery doesn’t happen overnight, you can’t turn the clocks back. Fighting With Pride will continue to work with veterans’ service providers to get help wherever it is needed.

But the dignity of being welcomed back into the military family has finally been honoured – pride in the beret and medal restored. We’ll be watching carefully to be sure the financial promises come good.

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