Royal Navy: Call for King Charles to apologise for historical LGBT ban in the armed forces

Campaigners are calling for greater compensation and recognition ahead of the publication of a government-commissioned independent review surrounding the issue. LGBT+ forces charity Fighting With Pride are calling for the Prime Minister to issue a formal apology on behalf of the Government.

Duncan Lustig-Prean, 64, was an officer in the Royal Navy but was dismissed when his superiors found out about his sexual orientation. His case played an instrumental role in overturning the ban and he said that the ‘time is right’ for an apology from the monarch.

He has featured in a Sky documentary, called Forced Out, which tells the story of LGBT+ veterans’ experiences in the armed forces prior to 2000, and how key campaigners fought the Government to have the ban overturned, as well as the impact it has had on veterans.

Mr Lustig-Prean said: ‘While there have been individual apologies from service chiefs, from individual junior ministers, I want to see the Prime Minister apologise on behalf of the Government.

‘And frankly I think the time is right – although it’s a difficult precedent for them to set – for the commander-in-chief himself, His Majesty, to apologise as the monarch, our commander-in-chief.

‘After all, these were people who were prepared to give their lives for him and were treated in that way.’

Mr Lustig-Prean gave more than 15 years of service to the armed forces before he was dismissed due to his sexual orientation in 1995 and he received compensation of approximately £119,000 when his case was settled in 1999.

Mr Lustig-Prean said: ‘There are a whole load of people who remain damaged, who have received nothing.’

Elaine Chambers, 62, co-founded the campaigning and support group Rank Outsiders in response to her own experience of being “forced to resign” from her role as a nurse in the armed forces when they found out she was a lesbian.

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After a lengthy legal battle, she said she received £63,000 in compensation in 2009, but had to give £18,000 to her solicitors.

She said: ‘After 14 years of legal battle I had built up debts of nearly that amount. So I ended up with very, very little.’

‘I’ve got to be brutally honest about it. I need and want some form of financial recompense.

‘And I would like to have an army pension, because I did serve Queen and country voluntarily and I was doing a blooming good job at it, and would have stayed on and would have carried on to fulfil my obligations had I been allowed.’

A government spokesperson said: ‘We are proud of our LGBT+ veterans and grateful for their service in defence of our nation.

‘We can confirm that Lord Etherton has concluded his independent review and submitted his report to the government.

‘In line with the terms of reference we will carefully consider the findings and respond in due course.’