12 January 2000: LGBT people are free to serve openly in the armed forces
One of our first and longest-running campaigns overturned the ban on ‘homosexuals’ joining the Armed Forces.
It had begun years earlier with the discovery of a letter belonging to Robert Ely, a warrant officer in the parachute regiment. The letter disclosed his sexual orientation, prompting a humiliating investigation and his discharge after 17 years of service. Ely went on to found Rank Outsiders, a support group for LGBT people in the armed forces and those who had been sacked for their sexual orientation.
Four of the members fronted the campaign to get the ban lifted: Duncan Lustig-Prean, a supply officer on HMS Newcastle; Jeanette Smith, an RAF nurse; John Beckett, a weapons engineer mechanic; and Graeme Grady, of the RAF, who had been posted to Washington DC.
In partnership with Rank Outsiders and the human rights organisation Liberty, we took their cases to the European Court of Human Rights. In September 1999, four years after the campaign began, the Ministry of Defence was found in breach of Article 8 of the European Convention, covering the right to respect for private life.
The ruling led Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, to declare in a statement to the House of Commons in January 2000, that the ban “was not legally sustainable”. He outlined a new code of conduct covering personal relations in the forces applicable for “homosexuals and heterosexuals” alike in the services.
Angela Mason, then the executive director of Stonewall, said: "It is a good day for us and a good day for society."
But not everyone agreed. Some ministers called for the ban to be reviewed as soon as possible, claiming that the change would harm morale and be unpopular with serving personnel. Head of the Armed Services General Sir Charles Guthrie refuted the claims, telling the BBC, "what we really want to make clear is that everybody in the services, whether they are homosexual or heterosexual, has rights. They are going to be treated with respect."
The pace of change escalated quickly. In 2007, Armed Forces personnel marched in uniform at Pride for the first time. In 2015, all three services featured in Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers. "It’s a fantastic example of a group accepting mistakes that were made and taking impressive and active steps in improving what they do," said Stonewall chief executive, Ruth Hunt.
Just over a decade after the ban was lifted, lance-corporal James Wharton, a gay man serving in the household cavalry, held his wedding reception at the regimental barracks.