Today, the news is filled with an incredible milestone in the five-year journey of Fighting With Pride – LGBT+ Military Charity. The UK government has announced a £75 million financial redress scheme, providing compensation of up to £70,000 to LGBT+ veterans dismissed from the military under the pre-2000 “gay ban.” This historic decision marks a significant step toward justice for those who endured personal and professional harm due to this unjust policy.
Under the ban which lasted until the year 2000, serving members of the forces discovered to be LGBT+ were subject to brutal interrogation, and dismissal. Some have faced lifelong consequences, including diminished career prospects, being vilified by family and friends, and no access to their military pensions. In 2023, then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak issued a formal apology on behalf of the nation marking the first meaningful steps forward, but the financial redress recommended by Lord Etherton’s independent review was yet to be delivered.
This compensation scheme follows years of campaigning and advocacy, with Fighting With Pride at the forefront of the movement. Today’s announcement is an acknowledgement that our LGBT+ veterans and those dismissed because they were perceived to be LGBT+ deserve to end this journey with a sense that justice has been done. It also provides them with some comfort and security in older age which the Armed Forces Covent seeks to protect with its tenant that no veterans should be disadvantaged by their service.
The review recommended this be capped at £50 million, but veterans, campaigners and MPs have said this amount will not be enough to truly make up for what they experienced. Divided among eligible veterans, payments could be as low as £12,500 each. This is far from sufficient for those whose lives were irreparably damaged. At Fighting with Pride, we called on Labour to honour promises it made in opposition to reconsider the cap.
Tremaine Cornish, a former Army Commando, described being “close to being homeless again,” a situation he links directly to the loss of his military career. Ruth Birch, who joined the army in 1987, said the Government needs to “step up to the mark and value all the veterans that were willing to lay down their lives for this country. She added: “In a nutshell, not only what I went through, and my wife went through, and every other LGBT veteran, the fact that the Government has dragged its heels anyway… it is just, I mean, the only way I can describe it is disappointingly crushing. As a former Royal Navy officer who served under the ‘gay ban’, I know firsthand that these stories, like those of so many others, reflect the enduring impact of this unjust policy.
Charities including the Royal British Legion and Stonewall joined our fight, as have MPs called for the cap to be lifted. In correspondence with parliamentarians, ministers have insisted the payments should not be referred to as compensation or compared with the financial packages for the Horizon and Infected Blood scandals. The Ministry of Defence has acknowledged the ban as a “moral stain” on the history of the armed forces, and today’s announcement reflects the collective effort to ensure no veteran is disadvantaged by their service.
This decision is a testament to the resilience of LGBT+ veterans and the power of campaigning for justice.
Thank you for your support for our cause over recent years, it has been hugely appreciated, please share this post of thanks for all those who have joined us on this journey.
About the author
Craig Jones, from the Sounddelivery Media Spokesperson Network,is Head of Campaign and Trustee at Fighting With Pride – LGBT+ Military Charity and the principle leader of the Armed Forces LGBT+ community in the difficult years after the ‘ban’ was lifted.
In a busy 20 year operational career in the Royal Navy, Craig was a helicopter fast rope boarding officer during operations to clear the Shatt Al Arab following the first Gulf War and he led border patrols in Northern Ireland in the challenging year prior to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. Later he was the deputy navigator of the Fleet flagship HMS INVINCIBLE during Operation BOLTON.
On the day of the lifting of the ‘gay ban’ in 2000, Craig came out and led challenging work to restore the Armed Forces Covenant for the serving LGBT+ community. Craig was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2006 for services to Equality and Human Rights in the Armed Forces. Craig retired from the Armed Forces in 2008.
Craig is married to Adam and lives in Roedean, Brighton.
Follow the work of Craig Jones and Fighting with Pride on Twitter @CraigJonesMBE @FightingwPride
Read the Independent Review by Lord Etherton into the service and experience of LGBT veterans.