Marching with Pride – why inclusion and celebration of identity matters to the military
Recently retired Royal Navy Commodore Steve Prest was Deputy Director of People Change in Navy Command HQ before he left the service.
As June is Pride month – a time dedicated to celebrating LGBTQ+ communities all around the world – he reflects on the incredible changes within the Armed Forces during his time serving.
Cdre Prest asks why Pride matters to the military and assesses what still needs to be done to promote inclusion.
I received an email from a central London pub last week where I have a reservation for Saturday 29 June.
The reason for that reservation is a reunion of colleagues with whom I spent a year at the Royal Naval Engineering College, Manadon, in 1994/5 – before we dispersed for our university engineering courses and careers beyond.
There were 30 of us on our intake. We were there as Civil Service student engineers, fresh from A-Levels, embarking on our careers in the Defence Engineering and Science Group.
So this coming Saturday is our 30th anniversary reunion.
For those of us who've built a career in Defence Capability and Acquisition, this was the start of that journey.
What has this got to do with Pride?
Well the reason for the email was to alert me to the fact that the pub is on the route for the Pride in London march on that same day, and there will be music and other festivities inside the pub to mark the occasion.
Brilliant – it should be a lot of fun!
What this juxtaposition highlights to me just how far the Armed Forces have come with regard to LGBTQ+ issues in the last 30 years.
There will be a significant number of uniformed members of the Armed Forces marching the Pride event, and many more cheering from the sidelines.
Many of those will identify as LGBTQ+ people themselves, the others will be their allies and well-wishers.
This Saturday also happens to be Armed Forces' Day – double bubble!
As one of the Navy's senior representatives, I participated in the Pride march in Brighton a couple of years back.
Trust me, if you ever need your ego boosted, marching in such a parade wearing a naval uniform, even as a straight guy, is a brilliant way to do it!
Looking back to our time at Manadon, it was all very different.
About halfway through our time a scandal erupted – it had come to light that one of the junior officers undertaking their degree course there was gay.
The Special Investigation Branch (the Navy's equivalent of the CID) was called in. The individual was arrested and marched away.
His friends and course mates were interviewed under caution. Who had known about this? Who had been covering it up?
The Commanding Officer was apoplectic and lectured the officers in furious terms about how they had let down the Service and the Navy and that justice would be meted out on anyone found to have been collaborating with this man.
At this time, you see, homosexuality was considered to be incompatible with service life and was banned in the Armed Forces.
Being homosexual was a disciplinary offence which could result in 'offenders' being sent to prison.
Some were, but many more lost their careers, homes, relationships, their self-respect and their mental health.
People who had served bravely on operations had their medals cut off of their clothes and confiscated. Because of whom they loved.
The ban was lifted in April 2000, after I had joined the Navy, with the change largely the result of campaigning by groups such as Rank Outsiders.
There have always been gay people in the Navy, whatever the policy of the day has been, serving with bravery and distinction alongside their straight colleagues.
Various surveys now recognise the Armed Forces as one of the best employers for LGBTQ+ people in the UK.
We have come a long way in a few decades and should be proud of our progress. But such progress is not irrevocable and there are plenty of challenges still to meet.
LGBTQ+ people are far more likely to suffer abuse, discrimination and violence than heterosexual people.
Regrettably, this is true both within and outside of the Armed Forces.
There are still many places in the world, some that we send our people to on duty, where being gay is still a punishable offence.
LGBTQ+ individuals suffer from higher instances of poor mental health and often feel isolated due to a lack of understanding or acceptance from peers or superiors.
So while much progress has been made, there are still gaps in policies and cultural acceptance that still exist, affecting LGBTQ+ service members' well-being and career prospects.
It is not a level playing field. This too is true in wider society just as much, perhaps more so, than in the Armed Forces.
Pride isn't just a celebration, therefore, but also a protest at continuing injustice, and a remembrance of the progress made and of those who have suffered in the process.
So whilst there will be a party atmosphere, it is important to remember the struggle too. And this affects us all.
We need our Armed Forces personnel to be at the top of their game, bringing the best of themselves to the mission, not wondering whether they belong.
These people have skills we need and have as much to offer as anyone else. Failure to create an environment where they are celebrated is an act of self-harm.
Celebrating people who might have different characteristics from us, doesn't detract from our own identity. Embracing the stories of others makes us all richer.
To be blunt, celebrating Pride as a straight person doesn't "make you gay".
This is not a zero-sum game, it's a chance to show the LGTBQ+ members of your team that you recognise them, value them and respect them for who they are.
Just as you do with every other member of your team in other, often more subtle, ways.
Trust me, when you treat people like that they notice. And the support that you show to them will be repaid a hundred-fold in their loyalty back to you.
When you champion people, when you show them that you care and when you stand as their ally, you win people's commitment.
All good leaders know this, and the best ones do it instinctively.
We can all make the choices to do and be better though, and to carry others with us. That's real leadership.
That's why Pride still matters, and it's why the Armed Forces should, and do, support their people's celebration of their identify.
It is right that our colleagues are proud of who they are and that they should be able to express it.
And that's why, as I reminisce with my colleagues on the events of 30 years ago, good and bad, we too will be joining in the celebrations of our LGBTQ+ friends.
It will be quite the party!
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