Thousands of British military personnel who were dismissed on grounds of homosexuality will be able to have their service medals restored if they had been taken away when they were kicked out of the armed forces.
By law, gay men and lesbian women were banned from serving in the British military until 2000. Transgender people were officially allowed to openly serve in 2014.
About 200 to 250 people were thrown out of the military each year because of their sexuality, and frequently had their service medals removed.
Mr Ousalice, who is bisexual, led a campaign to restore the Long Service and Good Conduct medal and three Good Conduct badges he gave up after his 18-year service in the Royal Navy ended in his dismissal in 1993.
He won his medal back after he had launched a legal action, which led the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to apologise to him, and promise to review the wider situation.
“This is nowhere near enough,” Ousalice said to The Guardian, “Basically, when they take your medal from you, the medal effectively decrees what you get for your pension. By taking my medal and three good conduct badges that I had, my rank was cut. I had to wait until 60 before drawing a pension, whereas I could have got it immediately.”
Veterans who were kicked out before 2000 said they were victims of covert investigations, including secret filming, or repeated harassment by military police over several years in an attempt to prove they were gay.
It is not known how many LGBT service personnel the ban affected, or the number who may now be eligible to have awards restored.
Labour’s shadow armed forces minister Stephen Morgan said to the BBC that the announcement was an “important step towards justice” for those dismissed from the army because of their sexuality.
He called on ministers to consider restoring ranks, pensions and other forms of compensation to “appropriately honour those who have served our country with courage and distinction”.
Craig Jones, the joint chief executive of Fighting with Pride, a charity supporting LGBT+ veterans, described the move as the “first step on a journey”.
He said to The Guardian: “People’s lives were shattered by the ban. We need to look at giving people their commissions and warrants back, royal pardons of convictions, help with resettlement – and, yes, there is an overwhelming case for compensation and the restoration of pensions”
The Centre for Military Justice, a charity which helps veterans with legal advice, had threatened to sue the MoD if it did not live up to promises to update the policy so that anyone who lost their medals for being LGBTQ+ could easily apply for justice.
Image: Tim Laurence
