Five years ago, no one would have thought that Stonewall, a lobbying group for gays, lesbians, and bisexuals, would be acting as a consultant to the Royal Navy of Britain. Nor would anyone have thought that the Royal Navy would consider placing advertisements in gay magazines. If times have changed, so have the Royal Navy’s strategies.  

Britain terminated its ban on gays in the military five years ago, and the British parliament approved the Civil Partnership Act last year, granting registered same sex couples rights similar to those given to heterosexual married couples. From the fall of 2005, gay servicemen and women in partnerships may apply for housing that was previously restricted to married couples.

The Royal Navy isn’t merely paying lip service to this new legislation — through its partnership with Stonewall, it’s seeking to retain and recruit more gays and lesbians, in addition to improving their quality of life in the military. Director of Naval Life Management Commodore Paul Docherty states that the current efforts are intended to “make more steps toward improving the culture and attitude within the service as a whole, so gays who are still in the closet feel that much more comfortable about coming out.”
  

Mimi Hanaoka