UC Santa Barbara Recent Work Title The Effects of Including Gay and Lesbian Soldiers in the British Armed Forces: Appraising the Evidence Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/433055x9 Authors Belkin, Aaron Evans, R.L. Publication Date 2000-11-01 eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California THE EFFECTS OF INCLUDING GAY AND LESBIAN SOLDIERS IN THE BRITISH ARMED FORCES: APPRAISING THE EVIDENCE Aaron Belkin* and R.L. Evans** November, 2000 The Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military University of Californ ia at Santa Barbara (805) 893 -5664
[email protected] *Director, Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military, University of California, Santa Barbara ** Doctoral candidate, Department of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley I. EXECUTIVE SUMMAR Y Like the U.S. military, the British Services is an all -volunteer force comprised of army, air force and navy contingents. Until January, 2000, when Britain lifted its gay ban following a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights , gay and lesbian soldiers were prohibited from serving in the British Armed Forces. The first ten months of the new policy have been an unqualified success. The military’s own classified, internal assessment at six months found that the new policy has “been hailed as a solid achievement” (Ministry of Defense, 2000e, p. 2). There have been no indications of negative effects on recruiting levels. No mass resignations have occurred. There have been no major reported cases of gay -bashing or harassment of sexual minorities. There have been no major reported cases of harassment or inappropriate behavior by gay or lesbian soldiers.