T his Remembrance Sunday LGBT+ veterans will honour fellow servicemen and women at the National Service of Remembrance. It is the first time LGBT+ veterans have been openly invited to the event at the Cenotaph.
The 24 places have been granted to Fighting With Pride, the first and only lived-experience charity addressing the health and wellbeing of LGBT+ veterans. Joint Chief Executives of Fighting With Pride, Craig Jones MBE and Caroline Paige, will be marching with fellow veterans on the day.
Craig Jones MBE, Joint Chief Executive of Fighting With Pride, said: “It’s with immense pride that we will see LGBT+ veterans remember the service and sacrifice of members of our Armed Forces who gave their lives for our peace and freedom at the National Cenotaph. Standing alongside fellow veterans means a great deal to our community and being able to play a role in the day is a great honour for us all.”
Caroline Paige, Joint Chief Executive of Fighting With Pride, adds: “The National Service of Remembrance is of great significance to everyone in the UK and in particular those who have been a part of the military. It’s a proud day to see LGBT+ veterans included and one we are all looking forward to.” The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recently announced that LGBT+ veterans who were stripped of their medals due to their sexual orientation or gender identity are to have them returned in time for Remembrance Sunday. Elaine Chambers, who will carry the charity’s wreath on the day, Chris Ferguson, Tremaine Cornish and Duncan Lustig-Prean are among those attending the service with Fighting With Pride.
Lieutenant-General Sir Andrew Gregory, KBE, CB, DL, Patron of Fighting With Pride and Chief Executive of SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity said: “I am delighted that, after decades of denial the service of LGBT+ Veterans are being properly recognised and celebrated. We should all be very proud, as they march past the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday, that the Armed Forces now values everybody as themselves when they serve this Nation.”
For more information about Fighting With Pride visit: www.fightingwithpride.org.uk
