New play looks at Royal Navy's historic ban on gay personnel serving

Code of Condemnation is being written by 62-year-old Portsmouth-born Julia Davey and tells the story of a man who was victim to the pre 2000 Armed Forces Code of Social Conduct which banned gay personnel from joining up.

A 20-minute extract will be performed in Southampton on Monday as part of the Make It SO festival, which showcases works in progress.

Julia turned to her passion for writing after leaving her job at Hampshire County Council. She has since been longlisted for two prizes in 2018 and 2019.

‘I want to find stories that need to be told, issues that are ongoing or that people don't know about and shouldn't forget,’ she said.

The play marks 20 years since the government changed its policy and removed the ban in 2000.

This change was initiated by four members of the armed forces in 1999 who brought their case to the European Court of Human Rights after being sacked with no support in the UK courts. The European court concluded that they had a right to a private life under Article 8.

Julia became aware of the case after using the public library to write in, and noticed the dependency the homeless, particularly ex-military homeless, have on the library.

‘Living in Portsmouth I have always been connected to the navy, so I did some research,’ she said.

‘I wanted to write about the treatment of the LGBTQ+ community by the military in the late 20th century and then looked into the 1999 case. I was shocked at how intrusive they were into people’s private life - which of course is extremely pertinent today.

‘I think this is an important story to tell because we are all human beings and should all be equal.”

Julia’s production, performed by volunteers from the Southampton University Players, will feature a 20-minute scene from the play, where an officer is being questioned about his sexuality.

‘One story discusses: social equality, diversity, human rights, homelessness, and the importance of not just going along blindly to policy,’ she said.

Primarily Julia’s play is about promoting understanding and non-judgement. “We can’t assume we know about the person we walk past on our streets”.

She is in the early stages of trying to apply for Arts Council Funding to develop the full play.

Code of Condemnation is on Monday, February 24 at 8pm in the NST, City Studio, Southampton.