Senior officers want to encourage more gay and lesbian sailors, estimated at 2,100, to “come out”, paving the way for the first openly gay admiral.
The partnership, to be announced tomorrow, will provide the template for a wider change in the culture of the armed forces. Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, said: “We hope that the RAF and the army will be following shortly.”
Vice-Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent, Second Sea Lord, said he looked forward to working with Stonewall, whose founders include Sir Ian McKellen, the actor. The admiral said it would help a culture in which “all our people are valued for themselves and are thus able to give 100% to their job”.
In a symbolic move, the navy will place advertisements in the Pink Paper, the first time it has sought recruits through the gay press.
Commodore Paul Docherty, for the navy, said: “(The advertisements) will show those who are gay and are uncomfortable about the environment (here) that our position on diversity is not just empty talk.”
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He added: “It is quite possible that we will have a gay admiral in the fullness of time. Anecdotally, we have had gay admirals in the past but they haven’t come out because it wasn’t allowed.”
Under the scheme, Stonewall will give practical advice on setting up a gay and lesbian network to provide support, social gatherings and help on coming out. It will advise on promoting role models, collect data on sexual orientation and help implement gay-friendly relocation allowances, travel benefits and bereavement leave.
According to Lieutenant-Commander Craig Jones, the navy’s most senior openly gay officer, the navy still loses highly-trained staff prematurely, despite the lifting of the ban on homosexuality in January 2000.
“If you are still in the closet, it feels claustrophobic. I know many people who have left simply because they want to live a life which is more open.”
Commodore Docherty said the navy had a code of conduct, including a “no touching” rule, that was no different for same sex and heterosexual relations. “We do rely heavily, just as we have done with having women at sea (since 1991), on common sense and good manners.” He admitted the navy was irritated by the fascination in popular culture with the camp behaviour of gay seafarers — reflected in songs such as the disco hit In the Navy by Village People.
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It reached a peak in the 1950s and 1960s, when prior to the decriminalisation of homosexuality, some ships provided one of the only places where gays could be open about their sexuality. “I think the 38,000 people in the navy would dearly love to change that banter,” he said.
Documents released recently revealed a crackdown on homosexuality in the late 1960s, appearing to confirm in part Winston Churchill’s claim that naval tradition was “nothing but rum, sodomy and the lash”.
Dozens of explicit photographs of British sailors were found in Bermuda in 1969. Hundreds of sailors were involved in what was described as gross indecency, and commanding officers were ordered to “stamp out this vice”.
However, from this autumn, the Ministry of Defence will comply with the civil partnership act by providing equivalent terms — including married quarters — for registered partners. It already provides full pension rights for gay partners.
Other employers who have turned to Stonewall for advice on how to promote better working conditions for gays, lesbians and bisexuals, include British Airways and Sainsbury’s.
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About 200 people a year were sacked from the forces for homosexuality until 2000, when the ban was ruled unlawful. A former navy commander, Duncan Lustig-Prean, who won almost £114,000 compensation for loss of earnings and for intrusion into his private life, was among four military personnel who brought the test case.
Docherty cited navy policy on inviting gay partners to official functions as an example of its willingness to adapt. “I know for a fact this works,” he said. “I have been to dos where there have been couple of the same sex and you see them on the dance floor.”