Veterans criticise ‘inadequate’ compensation scheme for gay military ban
"We must not deny LGBT veterans the justice they are due," said Craig Jones, Chair of the LGBT Veterans Coalition
By Alim Kheraj
A number of veterans charities and organisations have criticised the UK government’s proposed compensation scheme for those who were dismissed from the military for being gay.
It was announced earlier in October that the government had set aside £50m for those who were the victims of the pre-2000 ban on gay people in the military. According to the National Audit office, as per the BBC, around 4000 people may be eligible for compensation, making the average payout £12,500 each.
In response, the LGBT Veterans Coalition, co-signed by charities likes of Fighting With Pride, Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion, have written to the prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, calling the figure “inadequate and unacceptably low”.
“We must not deny LGBT veterans the justice they are due” – Craig Jones, LGBT Veterans Coalition
“It is the shared view of the LGBT Veterans Coalition and our supporters that payments of this scale will not bring about the sense of justice these veterans deserve,'” the letter, which was written by Craig Jones, Chair of the LGBT Veterans Coalition, reads.
“We must not deny LGBT veterans the justice they are due, nor deny the defence establishment this watershed moment in which the values we share today, replace
those of the past.”
Under the ban on homosexuality within the armed forces, LGBTQ+ service people were dishonourably discharged if their sexuality was publicly disclosed. Up until 1995, some were even imprisoned.
In 2022, Lord Etherton, Britain’s first openly gay judge, led the LGBT Veterans Independent Review, which revealed that gay and lesbians were subjected to bullying, violence and dismissals within the military for decades. Many were left without wages or pensions.
After the report was published in 2023, then-prime minister Rishi Sunak apologised for the ban, calling it “an appalling failure of the British State”.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) called the treatment of LGBT veterans “wholly unacceptable”, with the BBC noting that the ministerial department would share more details about the compensation scheme later this year.