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Ten years after the Royal Navy lifted its ban on homosexuality, how has life changed for gay men and women in the senior service?
By: Staff writer
Travis Croft
Travis Croft
Sea Change
Ten years ago the Royal Navy ordered a radical overhaul of its attitude towards LGBT servicemen and women. So how far has it come? Pride Life tests the waters with medic Travis Croft.
What did you do before you joined the Navy?
When I left school at 16 I started a four year apprenticeship at Toni & Guy but quit after my second year as it wasn’t the job for me. I then worked in retail for 12 months. It was during this time that I met the guy in the RN who introduced me to the job.
The waiting list to join was 14 months long and during that time, I also managed to get a job in hospital theatres as a Theatre Support Worker which I found very rewarding. The experience in that job has made me decide that I want to train as an Operating Department Practitioner in the Navy.
What is the best thing about life in the Navy?
The community, the opportunity and the salary. I have the biggest circle of friends I’ve ever had (including gay friends – in fact I made my dad laugh when I told him that I have more gay friends now I’m in the military than I ever did when I worked as a hairdresser!).
The opportunities are far reaching. Not only do I have the opportunity to visit lots of other countries and get paid for it, the RN also offers adventurous training as a recreation that we don’t even have to take leave for!
Career-wise there are lots of opportunities. As a simple medic, I’m can work my way up the ranks and have a reasonably pleasant career and there is a multitude of other career choices I can train in. Medically, I could be a lab technician, radiographer, ODP, Naval Nurse or even work in Health Physics if I decided to become a submariner.
As for the salary, I’m earning the most I ever have done and I receive a pay rise twice a year.
What has been the biggest surprise about service life?
Without sounding like a complete cliché, I found the openness of it a massive eye-opener. When I was waiting to do my basic training, I vowed I wouldn’t tell anyone my sexuality but when I got there, there were two other gay lads in the group and the class senior to us had a gay lad who was always cracking jokes.
When I got to phase two of training, I had the same dilemma as I thought all the Army lads would be really macho – again it was in fact me who was being prejudiced. They didn’t care at all. In fact a few of them said that when they saw how I wasn’t treated any differently, it encouraged them to come out and they felt silly that they hadn’t done it weeks sooner.
In the fleet I’ve got a huge amount of gay friends and the straight guys simply don’t care. It’s been ten years since the ban was lifted and for people joining up now, it’s no big deal.
Why did you join the Naval Service’s LGBT Forum?
When it started, I was fascinated to see what would happen and where the forum would go. I also wanted to contribute in whatever small way I could. On gay networking websites, I'm always getting messages from guys interested in the forces, but worried it'll be really homophobic or worse, that it's still illegal! I thought the forum might help me/ advise me when I come across a case like that.
What does the Forum do and why does it matter?
The Naval Service LGBT Forum aspires to represent the LGBT Community and be an avenue for Divisional Officers, Line Managers and Equality and Diversity Advisers to seek advice. The Forum has been a vital channel for the Navy Command Equality and Diversity Policy team to use when seeking views and representation.
What does the Forum do and why does it matter?
The Naval Service LGBT Forum aspires to represent the LGBT Community and be an avenue for Divisional Officers, Line Managers and Equality and Diversity Advisers to seek advice. The Forum has been a vital channel for the Navy Command Equality and Diversity Policy team to use when seeking views and representation.
