King Charles III will unveil a memorial to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender military personnel at his first official engagement in support of the LGBT+ community.
It was illegal to be gay in the British military until 2000, and those who were gay – or were perceived to be – faced intrusive investigations, dismissal and in some cases imprisonment.
The memorial, named “the open letter”, is dedicated to people from the LGBT+ community now serving in the forces, as well as to mark the suffering of those who served under the ban.
Affected veterans say the monument signifies “closure” after decades of campaigning first to change the law, and then to push the government to make reparations.
The bronze sculpture, designed by Norfolk-based artist collective Abraxas Academy, will be officially unveiled today at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, the UK’s national remembrance site.
It resembles a crumpled piece of paper containing words from personal letters which were used as evidence to incriminate people.
The LGBT+ Veterans Memorial is one of 49 recommendations made by The Etherton Review, an independent report commissioned by government which looked at the treatment of LGBT+ veterans who served under the ban.
The report’s author, the late Lord Etherton, said it gave “shocking” evidence of a homophobic culture, bullying, and sexual assaults endured by those who were pursued under the ban, including PádraigÃn Nà RághillÃg.
Ms RághillÃg, 69, hadn’t realised she was lesbian when she joined the Women’s Royal Air Force in 1976, but began to understand her sexuality when she developed feelings for a female friend.
After divorcing her husband, she was posted to RAF Gibraltar where she worked as a telegraphist, a job which saw her work with morse code and given high level security clearance.
However, when a colleague saw her kissing a woman from the Women’s Royal Navy (WRN) it signalled the end of nearly a decade of service.
She says she faced intrusive interrogations in which she was asked intimate questions about her sex life, was outed to friends and family, and lied to in an attempt to get her to give up the names of other gay personnel.
While waiting for repatriation back to the UK, Ms RághillÃg says she was sexually assaulted by a male colleague in an attempt to turn her straight.
She said: “He was touching my breasts and trying to put his hand down my trousers. He said: ‘I’ll sort you out’.
“Apparently there was some kind of sweepstake, some of the guys were betting on who could ‘sort me out’, which was terrifying. ”
Similar accounts of dozens of other LGBT+ veterans who were sexually assaulted after revealing their sexuality are well-documented in the Etherton Report.
Abraxas Academy, a collective of artists behind the LGBT+ Armed Forces Community Memorial, were chosen from over 35 submissions by a panel made up of current and former LGBT+ personnel and groups including the Royal British Legion.
