Government to speed up repayment scheme for LGBTQ+ veterans
Between 1967 and 2000 members of the armed forces faced a ban for being homosexual
The government has said they will speed up a repayment scheme for LGBTQ+ veterans.
LGBTQ+ military personnel faced dismissal and even criminal records due to their sexuality between 1967 and 2000.
A £75 million LGBT Financial Recognition Scheme is “to acknowledge the historic wrongs they experienced in the armed forces”.
But the scheme announced in December 2024, has only paid 84 veterans despite over 1,000 people applying.
Chichester resident Liz Stead was dismissed from the RAF in 1969 and given a criminal record when a love letter from her girlfriend was found.
Liz’s MP for Chichester, Jess Brown Fuller said she was “was first alerted to Liz's story by an organization called Fighting with Pride that have been representing veterans that were dismissed from the military”
“Her then girlfriend was arrested by military police. Liz was coerced into providing a statement. And then following that she was dismissed from the military.”
“She is one of the few that have actually had their payment and now she is fighting to make sure that everybody else that is currently waiting that have had to reopen old wounds and talk about things that were really difficult for them at the time finally get the recognition they deserve”
“The scheme is open for 12 months. So if the government carries on at that pace, it could potentially take five years for all of these veterans that have potentially waited decades for that recognition from the government that they got this wrong.”
On why it’s important the government speed up, Jess said: “a lot of these veterans who potentially are elderly, who are frail, who might have terminal illnesses actually see that reparation before it's too late.”
“Those LGBT veterans have given up their lives to serve this country and then were told that they weren't good enough to do so. So we owe them not only a great deal of gratitude but a huge apology. The government has apologized.”
“Those veterans will now receive their berets back, they receive their medals back, they get a letter from the prime minister and then this compensation scheme, this reparation scheme is a token to say we recognize that what happened to those veterans was absolutely wrong.”