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The U.K. is finally restoring honor to veterans harmed by its anti-LGBTQ+ military ban
January 14 2025, 08:15

The United Kingdom has announced its plans to build a memorial for LGBTQ+ veterans who were persecuted and discharged under the country’s ban on queer military members, which remained in place from 1967 to 2000. The bronze memorial will resemble a crumpled sheet of paper and contain phrases from LGBTQ+ people affected by the ban. The announcement of the monument follows a government pledge to give £70,000 ($85,159) to military members harmed by the ban.

The memorial — whose design was chosen from 38 submissions and five finalists — will be constructed at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, a county about 145 miles northwest of London, just north of Birmingham. It will include phrases collected from LGBTQ+ soldiers during a recent investigation into the policy spearheaded by Terence Etherton, a member of Britain’s House of Lords.

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The phrases include ones like “A battle for love,” “a place to belong,” and “together we stand.” Though most of the letters will be gray in color, some individual words — like “respect,” “strength,” and “pride” — will be highlighted in gold.

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The memorial received a £350,000 grant from the Ministry of Defense’s (MoD) Office for Veterans’ Affairs. Its construction is being overseen by the LGBTQ+ military charity Fighting With Pride, The Hereford Times reported.

“The trustees are delighted that we have such a strong winner for the LGBT+ armed forces community memorial,” said Ed Hall, chairman of Fighting With Pride. “It’s been incredibly important to all of us at Fighting With Pride that we held a rigorous creative process to find the right design that will provide a place of peace and reflection for the LGBT+ armed forces family.”

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