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King Charles III Britain’s first national memorial to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender soldiers was dedicated on Monday, 25 years after Britain ended its ban on homosexuality in the armed forces.
The king, who is ceremonial head of the armed forces, laid flowers at the memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in central England, attended by many serving soldiers and veterans. The statue is in the shape of a folded bronze letter bearing the words of workers who were affected by the ban.
Between 1967 and 2000, soldiers, sailors, and airmen who were – or were believed to be – gay or transgender were declared unfit for service and dismissed or discharged from the military. Some were stripped of their medals or lost their pension rights, and many struggled with stigma for decades.
The government lifted the ban following a 1999 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights.
Former Prime Minister in 2023 Rishi Sunak He formally apologized for what he called a “catastrophic failure of the British state”. A compensation program was set up in which veterans who were dismissed from the army because of their sexual orientation or gender identity received up to 70,000 pounds ($93,000) each.
LGBTQ+ military charity Fighting with Pride said the new memorial represents “a powerful step forward in recognizing and honoring the service and sacrifice” of gay and transgender soldiers.
Claire Ashton, who was forced to leave royal artillery In 1972, when she was 21, she said, “It was a moment I never believed would happen, it was full of meaning and ultimately a moment of pride.”
She said, “I am now 70 years old and will always live with the psychological wound of being thrown out – ‘medically discharged’, as it was marked on my records.” “It means a lot to be with people who have gone through the same nightmare as me and, like me, are making peace with the past.”
Brig. Claire Phillips said at the ceremony that “As a lesbian who has served in the British Army for 30 years… my career has taken me from a life of secrecy, fear and darkness to a career of pride, openness and joy.
He said, “For the serving community, today’s unveiling of this incredible memorial is about reminding that we stand on the shoulders of giants – people who fought discrimination and oppression, so we can now serve openly and proudly.”