29 July 2023 , 18:41
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LGBT Veterans have urged ministers not to make them wait years for compensation in recognition of their shameful treatment during the British military’s gay ban.
As many as 20,000 were jailed, dismissed for their sexuality or outed against their will before the rule on service was lifted in 2000. Last week, in line with a recommendation by a damning report on the issue, the PM finally said sorry in a victory for campaigners and the charity Fighting With Pride.
On Saturday the group joined the Belfast Pride march, marking the first time an armed forces charity or organisation had taken part in the event.
But while campaigners welcomed the apology - and paid tribute to Defence Secretary Ben Wallace ’s “heartfelt and moving” statement, many of the recommendations of the report have yet to be agreed. The report called for “financial reparations” to be made to veterans, with an overall cap of £50 million.
Craig Jones, Fighting With Pride’s CEO, warned that figure was “unrealistic.”
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Fighting With Pride marching in Belfast on Saturday (Fighting With Pride)“We’ve had unprecedented levels of contact from veterans since the report came out,” he told this newspaper. “We’ve had 300 signing up for briefings on the outcome of the report, most of whom are new contacts previously unknown to Fighting with Pride.
“And sadly we’ve received scores of stories about the horrors of the ban. These are people who’ve not been part of the community at all and have suffered in isolation.”
He said more resources would be needed to properly compensate the number of veterans who had been “hunted down and lost their careers and suffered damage to their wellbeing.”
“This needs to be swiftly dealt with,” he said, noting those affected are an “ageing population.”
“We don’t want to be waiting another two years,” he added.
As of the publication of the report, former service people can now apply for a badge recognising their veteran status. But the report recommended a separate badge be made available specifically for LGBT veterans, which would be equivalent to the lifetime good service medal.
Campaigners backed this call, but it has not yet been agreed by the Ministry of Defence.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “We deeply regret the past treatment of LGBT personnel in the Armed Forces and thank those that have come forward to support the review. The Government has accepted in principle the vast majority of the report’s recommendations and will publish the full response to the report later this year”