大象传媒

Forces Radio BFBS speak to LGBTQ service men and women about their experience while serving in the British armed forces.

Some of them are serving openly, some have hidden their sexuality and, prior to the ban on LGBTQ personnel in the military being lifted in 2000, some were forced to leave because they were found out.

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Carl Austin-Behan, the former Lord Mayor of Manchester, was discharged from the RAF for being gay. He took a trip down memory lane to meet with openly bi-sexual serviceman Cpl Owain Bridge, serving at RAF Wittering.

Jo Mundi is the new Scotland representative for the Army鈥檚 LGBTQ forum. She took over from Dougie Morgan who spent nearly forty years in the British Army. For a lot of that time he hid his sexuality. They recently caught up at a popular gay bar in Edinburgh to look at how much things have changed.

Squadron Leader Catherine Lawson joined the Royal Air Force straight from school in the Nineties while Caroline Paige served in the RAF for 34 years and was the first openly transgender officer in the UK Armed Forces. The two good friends met up to reflect on changing attitudes.

Ann Miller-McCaffrey joined the Women鈥檚 Royal Naval Service in 1987 and currently represents the Royal Navy in the Armed Forces Diversity Engagement Team based at Sandhurst. Steve Powell is now with the South Wales Ambulance Service but served with the British Army from 1988 to 2000. They met for the first time over lunch at a restaurant just off Old Compton Street in the gay heart of Soho in London.

Producer for BFBS: John Dash.
Exec Producer for BFBS: Mike Howarth.
Online Producer for 大象传媒: Rachael Smith.