British Air Force Searches For Gay Pilots

While openly gay men and women are barred from serving in the US military, Britain's Royal Air Force is going out of its way to attract gays to the service. So anxious is the RAF to boost the number of gays in its ranks it has enlisted the help of the United Kingdom's largest LGBT rights group, Stonewall.

The air force has hired Stonewall to help create a major advertising campaign aimed at gays and lesbians. As part of the deal, worth according to some reports in excess of $100,000, the RAF has guaranteed to enforce a "zero tolerance" policy towards homophobia in the service. The Air Force also is letting prospective recruits know that if they have entered into a civil partnership they are entitled to live with their partners in married service members quarters on bases.

The Air Force is the second branch of the service to seek Stonewall's help in getting recruits. The Navy made a deal with the organization earlier this year. The RAF is short of 5,000 pilots, crews, engineers and medical staff. In addition, last week it was disclosed that more than 1,500 RAF personnel have applied for retirement.

The recruitment drive is a far cry from the position taken by the RAF shortly before Europride was to be celebrated this year in London. In June the Air Force said members of the RAF participating in the Europride parade could not wear their uniforms. The Navy was the only branch of the service to encourage its members to wear their uniforms at the event. All three branches of the military had recruiting booths at Europride.

Stonewall began a legal challenge to the ban on gays and lesbians in the military in 1998. The case eventually went to the European Court which ruled the ban was discriminatory and violated the European charter on human rights. In January 2000 the government abolished the prohibition. Over the past six years the British government has paid out more than $1.6 million to service members drummed out of the service when the ban was in effect.