Kelly Holmes is issuing a battle cry to all LGB T military veterans whose lives were ruined under the Forces ban on homosexuality.
The Olympic legend and former soldier – who came out as gay in the Sunday Mirror in June – wants persecuted troops to rise up and answer her “call to action”.
She needs them to give evidence to a landmark independent probe into the impact of a scandal that left thousands humiliated, stripped of honours, discharged or jailed under an archaic law which was only scrapped in 2000.
Many LGBT personnel lost their military pensions, were forced to come out to their families, and battled homelessness, unemployment and mental health issues.
Dame Kelly, 52, now an Honorary Colonel with the Royal Armoured Corps Training Regiment, was one of an army of Forces gays who hid their sexuality for decades over fear of prosecution.
Now she needs them to step forward for a march to justice.
Around 500 have so far submitted testimonials to the key independent review, agreed cross-party in the 2021 Armed Forces Bill, and chaired by Lord Etherton, ahead of its closing date of November 15.
Kelly said: “It’s not enough – we know thousands were affected. This is my call to action – I’ll put my neck out there.
“We need to make it known that people who have served their country were treated in that way and are still living today, suffering.
"There are those who were kicked out of the Army and completely disowned by their families – they’ve had to build a life with no support.
“Some became homeless as they lost everything – income, pensions and families – others took their lives.
“Many felt the fear like I did – those who were humiliated, who got raided, having all their property trashed, their whole life interrogated.
“This review needs to be as strong as possible so it can force the Government to do something. For some people, just acknowledgment that they have been impacted could be enough. But others will need support.”
In her campaign – in league with charity Fighting With Pride – she also calls for LGBT veterans stripped of medals to have them returned, and wants a formal compensation scheme set up.
And she wants a public apology delivered by a notable national figure, arguing that the Ministry of Defence ’s apology for the “unacceptable” policy in 2020 was not significant enough.
Kelly said: “It has to be somebody high up who recognises the effects it’s had – somebody like the Prince of Wales who has empathy and connection with the military, to recognise that it’s wrong – or even the King.
"It would be good for whoever is Prime Minister to make an apology on behalf of the State.” Dame Kelly met Lord Etherton last month following an outpouring of support after she opened up to the Sunday Mirror.
She has heard stories of terrified veterans who were sexually abused in service then threatened with being outed if they reported it.
Others suffered mental illness because of their Forces ordeal. But she knows many LGBT veterans will be wary of giving evidence.
Kelly said: “There are some who will have never spoken to anyone about this in their life, and speaking to someone about this is going to be traumatic and make them relive it.
“The other barrier is that some don’t trust that it’s independent and will protect your identity. But it is independent of the government, MOD and military.
“Some are also worried about the impact on their lives because maybe they haven’t yet come out, or never spoken about it.
“Some of them hate what happened to them and want nothing to do with it. Others might not even know about the review or don’t have the means or skills to submit an email response.”
It’s why she is working with Fighting With Pride to help veterans give evidence to the review by offering emotional support.
Veterans can ask to meet face-to-face to say what happened or testify via email, phone call or even voice note.
Kelly said: “I want anyone who served to be proud of their service. It’s your right to get a resolution and to not feel hatred about something that you should feel pride for.”
She hopes to meet affected service people, many of whom contacted her after reading her interview with the Sunday Mirror or watching her ITV doc Kelly Holmes: Being Me.
“One case that stuck out was a teenager whose mum had served but never wanted to speak about it,” she explained. “Since my documentary her mum opened up about what she went through.
“Some were hard to read – people affected by the ban who have still not been able to be open to their workplace and families.”
The star has been overwhelmed by support since she came out in Pride Month, saying it has been “100% positive”.
Last month she won Celebrity of the Year at the Diversity Awards. In August she marched with stars including Phillip Schofield, Gok Wan and other ITV faces at London Pride.
“It was Phillip’s first Pride since coming out and we were overwhelmed,” she said. “It was massive and you want to embrace it.”
She also addressed the crowd, recalling: “I did this rallying cry. I got hundreds of thousands of people chanting, ‘My Freedom is my Voice’.
"When I came off it was like an adrenaline rush, like I’d just won a medal.”
Opening up about her sexuality has allowed her to embrace new opportunities – like joining the Loose Women panel last month.
She said: “I’d have never done it before through fear, as they’re so open and their relationships are all out there. I think the biggest change is I’ve felt so different in myself. I feel free to be who I want to be.”
Kelly said she’s felt the presence of her mum Pam Norman, who died in 2017, in recent months: “I just wish she was here to see what I’m doing now.”
Kelly joined tens of thousands paying respects to the Queen at Westminster Hall last month, queuing for 11 hours.
“I wanted to do it because we pledged our oath to the crown for life,” she said.
“We can’t ignore the progress in the Forces. But there are people who took their lives and some are still suffering. We have to stand up for them.”
Executive chair Craig Jones, a Navy veteran, said: “Fighting With Pride is immensely grateful to Dame Kelly for her help to reach LGBT veterans.
“There must be a better future for these amazing veterans who were treated with cruelty, and the review needs to know what happened.”
A Government spokesman said: “The historic treatment of LGBT+ personnel in the Armed Forces was abhorrent and we deeply regret some personnel suffered injustices as a consequence.”
Today’s Armed Forces is an inclusive employer, they said, adding that it is a priority to find ways to address past wrongs.
'They put me in prison – I was furious'
Ex-RAF officer Steve Purves still has a criminal record after he was court-martialled and jailed for six months over his relationship with a male colleague.
He says a full apology and wiping the record is the least the Government should do after he was deprived of his military pension after 12 years of service.
Steve was tailed by the Special Investigation Branch as he met his partner in Brize Norton, Oxon, in 1985. He recalls being interrogated and pressured to “confess” – then convicted of 17 counts of gross indecency at a military court. Now 66, he says: “They tainted
me, then put me in prison with people involved in actual criminality. I was furious.”
When he was released, Steve and his partner were unwelcome at his family home and their romance broke down. He struggled to get work due to his criminal record, so he started hiding it.
Steve, who became a double-glazing salesman, said: “For years I had the secret of being same-sex attracted and then I had the secret of a criminal record.”
He held on to his anger until he met fellow victims through Fighting With Pride last year.
Steve, of Haywards Heath, West Sussex, added: “I live in a rented place, I went bankrupt 10 years ago.
“I should have received my RAF pension from the age of 38. Perhaps that’s something the inquiry can look at – ways to make the lives of affected people easier.
They treated us like criminals.. I was humiliated
As a gay woman, Carol Morgan was left jobless, homeless and penniless after she was “hounded out” of the Forces at 24.
She was five years into her career as a stewardess in the Women’s Royal Army Corps when she and her then girlfriend were kicked out in 1983 after a colleague reported them.
Now 60, she recalled: “The Special Investigation branch ransacked my room.
“They took letters, I was questioned for six hours and made to see a hospital psychiatrist. They asked intimate questions about what my girlfriend and I did in bed.
“We were treated like criminals. I was discharged. I was humiliated, losing everything.”
Her dreams of becoming a physical training instructor over, Carol initially took a job plucking chickens at a factory.
She had to return to her parents’ home and tell them why she’d been discharged - they were supportive. Her relationship broke down after two years “due to the strain”.
Carol says her ex went on to “drink herself to death” before the age of 50. Carol spent the next 30 years hiding her sexuality, and had two children.
She came out to them when they were grown up after meeting a woman in 2020.
The romance didn’t work out, but Carol is relieved to be “free” adding: “I wish I’d done it years ago, but it had been instilled in us that we couldn’t be gay.”
With the support of Fighting With Pride she has submitted a testimony for the independent review.
Carol, of Chobham, Surrey, wants a public apology from the Government along with compensation for the career she was robbed of.
