Britain’s secret service MI6 apologises for treatment of LGBT applicants
- Same-sex relationships were decriminalised in Britain in 1967. However, LGBT people were barred from working for MI6
- The Ministry of Defence recently said veterans who had been dismissed from the army because of sexual orientation could apply for the return of their medals
The British secret service MI6 has followed in the footsteps of the country's Ministry of Defence and apologised for its part in the treatment of LGBT personnel.
The fact that until 1991 LGBT+ people were not allowed to work for the famous service for security reasons was “wrong, unjust and discriminatory,” MI6 chief Richard Moore said in a video message released on Friday.
This, he said, had blighted the lives of dedicated professionals and denied others the opportunity to serve.
The English acronym LGBT+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people plus other subgroups.
Same-sex relationships were decriminalised in Britain in 1967. However, LGBT people were barred from working in MI6, known worldwide for the fictitious agent James Bond, until 1991 because of a series of scandals during the Cold War.
It was a “misguided” view that they were more susceptible to blackmail, Moore said. “Being LGBT+ did not make these people a national security threat. Of course not.”
Recently, the Ministry of Defence had announced that veterans who had been dismissed from the army because of their sexual orientation could apply for the return of their medals. The aim is to right “historical wrongs.”
Until 2000, LGBT people were not allowed to serve in the armed forces.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab paid tribute to the extraordinary courage and commitment of LGBT people. “The UK is safer because of their dedicated service,” Raab tweeted.
