Gay sailors free to
join parade
By Michael Evans,
Defence Editor, timesonline.co.uk March 17, 2006
GAY sailors will be allowed to march
in uniform at a gay and lesbian festival in the summer, a leading Royal Navy
officer said yesterday.
Vice-Admiral Adrian Johns, the Second Sea Lord and Commander-in-Chief Naval Home
Command, said that he was heartened that a significant number of gay and lesbian
navy personnel wanted to march in uniform in the main parade at the EuroPride
festival in London.
He said that he had directed his diversity team to work out how an “overt
Service presence” could participate in the parade. The decision was given
full support yesterday by Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, the newly appointed First
Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, who told journalists on board a Type 23
frigate, HMS Somerset, anchored in the Thames: “I don’t mind what people’s
sexual orientation is, provided it doesn’t affect a ship’s operational
efficiency.”
Admiral Johns said that the navy personnel who wanted to take part in the gay
festival in uniform were “keen to give a strong personal signal that the Royal
Navy is an inclusive employer of choice that welcomes and actively champions
diversity in its workforce”.
Admiral Johns was speaking at a conference held by Stonewall, the gay rights
activist group. He said that the inclusion of all sexual orientations in
the Navy had not been agreed merely to appear politically correct. The ban
on homosexuals serving in the Armed Forces was lifted in January 2000. He
said: “We came to realise that sexual orientation was not something that
could just be put to one side, because there is potentially a direct impact on
operational efficiency.
“When people can’t give 100 per cent to their job because they are being
intimidated or they are scared or they are preoccupied with hiding their true
identities rather than playing a full part in the team, operational efficiency
is degraded.”
In late 2004 the Royal Navy began a partnership with Stonewall, since when
policy has “shifted towards creating an environment where gays and lesbians can
now feel free to ‘come out’, if they wish, without fear of being harassed or
bullied”.
Admiral Johns said that the tireless efforts of one of his officers in promoting
and raising awareness of gay issues in the Royal Navy were recognised in the New
Year Honours.
It is not clear how many gay and lesbian sailors will participate in the
festival, which is to run from June 16 to July 1.
Stonewall said that London would be welcoming lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgendered people and their families from all over the world. The
parade will head down Oxford Street and Regent Street on July 1.
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