Straight man claims he was forced out of army after gay accusation
British Army (Stock image via Getty Images)
A heterosexual man from Burley has claimed he was forced out of the British Army at 16 years old after being accused of being gay.
Steven Waring alleges that his Commanding Officer called him into his office and asked: “Why are you a poof?”
Waring, who is now 60, explained to the Lancashire Telegraph on 18 March that he didn’t know what the word meant at the time.
However, he later found out that someone had accused him of engaging in homosexual acts with a non-commisioned officer, despite having a girlfriend at the time.
He claims that not long after he was asked if he wanted to do things “the easy way or the hard way”, and was “coaxed” into signing discharge papers. That means that, technically, he left of his own accord.
His parents were informed that Waring had to leave the army because he was a “homosexual” before he had a chance to tell them himself what had happened.
The news caused his father, who was also ex-Army, to not speak to Waring again until he was on his deathbed.
Waring was given a one-off compensation payment for what he experienced, but his application for £50,000 in reparations for those impacted by the British Army’s ban on homosexuality was rejected as the Ministry of Defence insisted that he left “voluntarily”.
The dad-of-three says: “I was told it was a miscarriage of justice – but I still haven’t got my full payment.
“I could be retired now, with a big military pension, which is sad.
“All I ever wanted was to serve this country and be a soldier, and that was taken away from me. It was really harrowing.
“I was coaxed into signing these papers at 16 with no parent present. It has ruined my life.”
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