National apology recommended for LGBTQ+ Australian veterans facing discrimination

A national apology should be issued to LGBTQ+ veterans and service personnel who experienced discrimination at the hands of the Australian Defence Force, according to recommendations to the federal government.

David Gibson, who was discharged from the military in 1989 because he was bisexual and chair of GLBTI Rights in Ageing, said it was time for the prime minister to issue an apology.

Gibson entered the military after high school in the 1980s and was posted to Townsville where he said the defence force conducted “witch hunts” to out homosexual members who under policy were prohibited from serving.

He still doesn’t know how the ADF found out about his sexuality, but described extensive interrogation by military police and said he felt “abandoned” by the whole system.

“I was thinking I just want this interrogation to end, and I foolishly thought … if I just admitted who I was, my true self, that this would be the end,” Gibson said.

“But the interrogation just flipped, and this is why I call it a witch hunt, because then they flipped into, give us names, who have you slept with? … And in the end I was so bullied by that process, I made up a situation … because again I just wanted it to end.”

Gibson was then sent to another military base in Victoria where he wasn’t allowed to speak with officers, and was told to work in an isolated office. In 1989, he was discharged.

He said while homosexuality was criminalised at the time, the military in the 1970s and 80s more often put personnel through an administrative instead of a criminal process because “they didn’t want the negative publicity [and] they didn’t want [to grant] the rights that you are afforded when you go through the military justice system”.

Gibson, who made a submission to the royal commission into defence and veteran suicides, said he felt decades of shame during and after his time in the military and the “traumatic” process led him into a deep depression.

“It’s disgraceful the way in which we treated people, and that’s my personal story but it’s not an isolated story,” Gibson said.

“An apology is long overdue … we need an apology from the prime minister.”

The Senate’s foreign affairs and defence committee has considered new legislation introduced after the royal commission into defence and veteran suicide, designed to modernise treatment of mental health problems and improve fairness in the military discipline system.

The bill would also create a new power to extinguish historical service offences. Until as late as 1990, the ADF maintained a policy prohibiting homosexual members from serving, resulting in discharge and conviction because of consensual same‑sex activity.

But the committee’s report, released on Friday, said other forms of discrimination against LGBTQ+ people needed to be addressed as well, recommending the Albanese government go further than the draft bill to provide long-overdue recognition.

The report calls for “restorative outcomes” for the victims of historical discriminatory administrative policies within defence, including those targeted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The policies included administrative discharge, forced resignation, security clearance revocation and other personnel actions.

Among the recommendations are a call for affected veterans or service people to be able to have their defence records annotated to show official actions against them were driven by discrimination, and that the conduct would not constitute an offence under current Australian law or breach contemporary defence policies.

The report says the defence department should offer a certificate of honourable service to personnel and veterans who suffered because of discriminatory policies, and that the federal government should issue a formal apology.

Like landmark apologies to the Stolen Generations of Indigenous Australians and victims of child sexual abuse, the statement would recognise harm experienced by LGBTQ+ personnel and veterans during their military service.

The inquiry heard evidence from organisations including GLBTI Rights in Ageing, which advocates for the rights, wellbeing, visibility and inclusion of older LGBTQ+ Australians. Its members proposed a national apology to the inquiry.

Witnesses appearing before the inquiry said the new powers to extinguish convictions were appropriate recognition that laws were discriminatory, inconsistent with contemporary Australian values, and caused enduring harm to veterans and their families.

Air Vice-Marshal Lara Gunn, defence’s head of joint support services division, told the inquiry additional measures relevant to historical administrative were being considered.

Committee chair and Labor senator Raff Ciccone said a modern ADF “must learn from the mistakes of the past”.

“Many LGBTIQA+ personnel served Australia with distinction while facing discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” he said.

“Everyone who serves our country should be judged on their service and ability, not on who they are. The Committee’s recommendations include further measures to address the harm caused by past discrimination against LGBTIQA+ personnel and veterans.”