Sex-change soldiers can stay in Army
By Hugh Davies and George Jones
SOLDIERS who have sex-change operations will be allowed to stay in the Army under confidential new guidelines by the Defence Ministry.
The policy rethink, which also affects the RAF, has added to speculation that before the next election the Government will be forced to relax the ban on practising homosexuals serving in the forces. Last night senior officers said the forces had no such plans.
The decision to allow transsexuals to stay follows controversy over a planned sex change by Sgt Maj Joe Rushton, 38, who now calls himself Joanne. Rushton, of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, is a former Army boxer who has served in Ulster and Bosnia.
He joined the Army at the age of 19, has been married four times and has a son. While undergoing “gender realignment”, a process that could take two years, he has been given a desk job at the Army’s personnel headquarters at Upavon, Wilts.
In the past, Sgt Maj Rushton would have been eased out of the ranks. But the Army is now committed to equal opportunities and is under growing pressure to respond to changing attitudes in society. Army sources said that, as the first case of its kind, it posed a challenge to senior officers.
After changing uniform, Sgt Maj Rushton will be restricted in rising through the ranks, as women are allowed to serve only in non-combat units, which represent 70 per cent of Army jobs. The guidelines say that men who change sex should be able to stay as long as they are physically capable of performing military duties.
The European Court of Justice recently ruled that it was unlawful to discriminate against transsexuals. Senior officers said that the transsexual guidelines had no bearing on their policy on practising homosexuals. A sex change was seen as a medical matter, they said; homosexuality posed a serious risk to discipline and morale.
The forces are under increasing pressure from gay rights groups and Europe to relax the ban. Defence ministers have so far supported the chiefs of staff on the issue of homosexuality. But they have promised that there will be a free vote on it during the present Parliament.
The Government’s hand could be forced by a ruling in the European Court in November on a case brought by several members of the Services who were forced out after they were found to be homosexuals. The ban is also to be challenged in several industrial tribunal cases.
Campaigners for gay rights believe that the ruling on transsexuals will bolster their case, because the European Court agreed that sex discrimination should be given a broad interpretation. Traditionally in Britain, lawyers have argued that it is not sex discrimination to discriminate against transsexuals or homosexuals, as long as transsexuals or homosexuals of both sexes are treated the same.
As the court rejected this argument in the case of transsexuals, campaigners believe it will reject the same argument on homosexuals If the court does rule that the armed forces ban on homosexuals is unlawful under European law, the Ministry of Defence could be faced with claims for millions of pounds in compensation from homosexuals who have been dismissed.
Gay rights campaigners believe that a majority of Labour MPs will back moves to lift the ban on homosexuals in the forces. The Commons has voted twice by substantial majorities to lower the age of consent for homosexuals to 16 - the same age as for heterosexual sex - but the change has been blocked by the House of Lords.
30 July 1999: Transsexuals win right to sex change on NHS
23 March 1999: Transsexual wins WPc job plea
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