I have a gay RM friend. He has done nothing outrageous other than to be gay. He's not a screaming queen. So far he has been physically assaulted, verbally threatened and ostracised by his unit. His Col Sgt has been the orchestrator and proponent of much of the abuse. His CO is doing little to help.
A couple of months ago, a squaddie at Catterick was brutally gang-raped by his room-mates for being 'gay' even though there is still no evidence to prove his sexuality one way or the other.
I had an airman colleague a couple of years ago who had excrement smeared on his door when he came out.
AT, if things have really changed, maybe you could pass the message on to those people. This conference is about giving a voice to people who are, albeit on a smaller scale than a few years ago, still bullied and mistreated. I see nothing wrong with asking Their Airships what they are doing to help. And as angry as you may be that we're allowed to hold such a conference, maybe you'd like to consider your relative position as someone who doesn't have to put up with it any more, and the position of those of us who just want to get on with our jobs but can't because someone happens to dislike our "lifestyle choice".
I hold no truck with the PC brigade; this is a pragmatic way of confronting senior officers with the facts. Whether it delivers the results remains to be seen, of course, but at least you could give it a chance.
Last edited by tablet_eraser; 24th July 2007 at 21:04.