Lord Etherton
It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of Lord Etherton today.
The LGBT+ military community has lost a voice that didn’t just speak out for us, it changed our lives.
His appointment by the government in 2022, to conduct an independent review into the ban on LGBT+ military service from 1967 until January 2000, resulted in a report published in July 2023, that shocked everyone that read it and which resulted in the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, making a formal and public apology to those who suffered under the ban in the House of Commons.
Lord Etherton’s clear focus, and brilliant legal mind, created a report which is readable and powerful, and it changed the future for the thousands of people who were sacked under a policy in a report which he described as, “A unique record of what, to the modern eye, is an incomprehensible policy of homophobic bigotry in our armed forces.
His compassion, eagerness to understand, and obvious personal empathy very quickly earned the confidence of a community of veterans with little faith and confidence in the machinery of government.
The recommendations he made have been accepted in full by both the last Conservative and the current Labour governments, and most of the recommendations he made have already been implemented. Thanks to the work of Terence Etherton, hundreds of veterans have now received personal apologies, the restoration of medals, berets, pensions and are currently in the process of applying for the financial reparations he recommended.
As part of the reparations, Lord Etherton recommended that a unique badge or ribbon be produced by the Ministry of Defence to give to veterans who lost their careers as a result of the ban. This badge has now been awarded to hundred of veterans, and it has become known as the Etherton Ribbon. It is worn with pride, and now with thanks for all the work that he did to make it happen.
Ed Hall, Chair of Trustees of Fighting With Pride, the LGBT+ Military Charity said:
“I gave evidence myself to Lord Etherton, as did many hundreds of others, and we all hoped the outcome would be positive. The truth though is that none of us had any expectation of the tremendous impact his report would have, and the way in which governments of both colours would warmly embrace his powerful recommendations. I last saw him quite recently with our charity’s founders at the Houses of Parliament, and we spoke about a future lunch where we would discuss the progress of the reparations, and the delivery of the LGBT+ Armed Forces Community Memorial to be unveiled later this year at the National Memorial Arboretum. Sadly, that lunch will have to remain forever on hold, but the brilliant and life-changing work he began for our community will continue in his name.”
Fighting With Pride is saddened by this news. Everyone at Fighting with Pride, and the whole LGBT+ military community sends condolences to his husband, Andrew.
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