Craig Jones, Joint Chief Executive of the military charity Fighting With Pride and a Royal Navy veteran, talks about the importance of the Human Rights Act for LGBT+ service personnel and veterans.
‘The European Convention on Human Rights – brought into force in the UK by the Human Rights Act – made all the difference to our lives and forced the vital change of ending the ban. A whole generation of LGBT+ service personnel has benefitted from it. Future generations will continue to benefit from it and will build upon the important achievements of the generation that went before. The Human Rights Act is a vital and precious piece of legislation and we must to everything we can to protect it, not least for those who are prepared to put themselves in harm’s way to uphold our values and our way of life.’
I joined the Royal Navy in 1989 and served in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, in the Gulf in 1993 and again in the Gulf in 1998, during Operation Bolton. I was at times the deputy navigator of the aircraft carrier HMS INVINCIBLE and served in a number of senior intelligence roles. I completed my service as a Lieutenant Commander in 2008.
Before the year 2000, thousands of LGBT+ service personnel were removed or forced from service in the Armed Forces. It was MoD policy that the presence of gay and lesbian people in the military would have a substantial and negative effect on morale, fighting power and operational effectiveness.
The personal impact of what was called the ‘gay ban’ was for many catastrophic and the accounts of those most affected are harrowing. Individuals who stepped forward for military service were subjected to deeply humiliating investigations to determine their sexuality and suffered terrible indignities: lots were falsely accused of crimes they did not commit; some were badly assaulted; many had their mail or other personal property seized and rifled through; some confided in the chaplaincy service only to find that their confidences had been shared; some were followed at home when on leave and their social activities monitored; close family members were approached and questioned and in that way, people were ‘outed’; many were subjected to invasive military police investigations and humiliating appearances before their Commanding Officer; or were forced to leave a career they loved, knowing that such an investigation was inevitable. Lots of the people we support today are still very badly traumatised by their experiences.
Jeanette Smith, Graeme Grady, Duncan Lustig-Prean and John Beckett bravely challenged the ban. They relied on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which is the right to privacy. And they won. The judges described the MoD’s investigations into the four as ‘exceptionally intrusive’, and said the inquiries had had a ‘profound effect on the applicants’ careers and prospects’. ‘The absolute and general character of the policy, which admitted of no exception’, had led to ‘especially grave interferences with their private lives’. The court roundly attacked an internal MoD report on homosexuality as expressing views ‘founded solely upon the negative attitudes of heterosexual personnel towards those of homosexual orientation’.
The ban was declared unlawful on 27th September 1999 and the MoD was forced to change. Six months later, on the day the ban was officially lifted, I came out. I felt an overwhelming sense of duty to those who had fought so hard for my right to serve openly. In the immediate years that followed, the Armed Forces continued to be a challenging environment for LGBT+ personnel, but over time that has changed and today they are welcomed. There are still challenges, but the Armed Forces are committed to being inclusive organisations where LGBT+ service personnel can thrive.
Sadly in the 21 years since the ban was lifted little has been done to support the survivors of the ban who lost their employment, homes, pensions, health and wellbeing. Many lost contact with family and friends as they were ’outed’ and for many careers never recovered from criminal convictions for ‘homosexuality’ or from being ‘dismissed in disgrace’. Some lost their medals – and it was the Human Rights Act that got them back. The MoD needs to do more to help those people. If the Government is to realise its ambitions to be the ‘best place in the world to be a veteran’ and to be a ‘global exemplar for LGBT+ rights’ there needs to be restorative justice for our LGBT+ veterans.
But the European Convention on Human Rights – brought into force in the UK by the Human Rights Act – made all the difference to our lives and forced the vital change of ending the ban. A whole generation of LGBT+ service personnel has benefitted from it. Future generations will continue to benefit from it and will build upon the important achievements of the generation that went before. The Human Rights Act is a vital and precious piece of legislation and we must to everything we can to protect it, not least for those who are prepared to put themselves in harm’s way to uphold our values and our way of life.
Craig Jones is Joint Chief Executive (with Caroline Paige) of the charity Fighting With Pride The charity supports LGBT+ veterans, serving personnel and their families, particularly those who were affected by the ‘gay ban’. For advice and support and information about FWP’s ongoing work to help resolve the challenges our LGBT+ veterans face in their lives, please contact info@fightingwithpride.org.uk
