Posted on 02/20/2021 6:05:26 PM PST by Ennis85
The head of MI6 has apologised for the “misguided, unjust and discriminatory” ban on gay spies, 30 years after the restriction was lifted.
In a message on Twitter, Richard Moore, the head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, apologised for the treatment of LGBT staff and potential candidates before the government-wide security ban was lifted in 1991.
Same-sex relationships were decriminalised in Britain in 1967. However, it took more than two decades before the security bar to LGBT individuals serving in any of the UK intelligence agencies was rescinded.
Mr Moore said this was down to a “misguided view that they would be more susceptible to blackmail than straight people”. He added: “Because of this policy, loyal and patriotic people had their dreams of serving their country in MI6 shattered. This was wrong, unjust and discriminatory.
“I apologise on behalf of MI6 for the way our LGBT colleagues and fellow citizens were treated and express my regret to those whose lives were affected.”
MI6 did not put a figure on how many people were likely to have been affected by the ban due to the organisation’s security policy regarding the disclosure of staff numbers.
Prior to 1991, MI6 would not allow LGBT staff to work for them and prevented LGBT applicants from joining. Although the issue of sexual preference is still raised in security vetting interviews for prospective MI6 employees, as well as staff in regular reviews, there is no discrimination and the information is used only to understand better an individual’s close relationships.
Security experts acknowledge sexual practices no longer hold the blackmail potential in Western countries they did in the past.
The most famous casualty was Alan Turing, who worked at Bletchley Park during World War II and played a critical part in cracking the German Enigma codes. It is estimated his work shortened the war in Europe by more than two years and saved more than 14 million lives.
However, his homosexuality saw him barred from working with GCHQ (Government Communications Network) after the war. He died from suicide in 1954 and only received a pardon in 2009.
Mr Moore said that even after the ban was lifted in 1991 “its effects lingered”.
I thought so, thanks for the info. Of course, we had our Bradley Manning....
What’s funny about All In The Family is that it was written for stage by an Englishman and the guy who played the part of Archie there was Cherie Blair’s father.
Turing had issues. The preferential justification for the Marxist cause.
Excluding the safety and well-being of minors, I’m apathetic. That’s God’s problem, not mine.
no it becomes society’s problem
aka the radical moral breakdown we have today
the fact we are all paying taxes to pay for expensive aids meds for gays who keep infecting others with it, amd mutating the disease further
not to mention the special cancers and other stds that come with the gay lifestyle that have become superbugs and drug resistant strains from the gay “community”
further they jave grown into intolerant radicals that will try to ruin your life if you don’t approve of them, you’ll see just how thin a veneer of civility they have
they got several of my friends fired, one because he was straight and turned down a gay guys’ advances
>> no it becomes society’s problem
Fair enough, but I was referring to personal behavior.
>> aka the radical moral breakdown we have today
That’s Marxist exploitation.
Well aware of the BS corporate pandering. Not acceptable.
My point: I’m not going to condemn an individual for his/her personal behavior.
I don’t agree, but I do recognize that it was a real security concern back then. And an apology doesn’t make much sense. Just virtue signaling.
The Soviets blackmailed a lot of British people to become spies for them before, during and after WW2. The US case of Burgess & McLean showed how that blackmail techniques was used in the US and the British saw how bad their internal security was towards closet Communists and homosexuals who were being blackmailed or targets of such.
This story is much more complicated than what is in the article.
I assume they’re overvalueing Turing’s work.
God disagrees with you and your mindset. We are to OPPOSE EVIL, not tolerate it or look the other way. People like you are why we have gay marriage, why we have pastors going to jail if they preach against LGBT garbage, why 3rd graders are being indoctrinated about anal sex, why parents can go to jail if they oppose their children going trans. Naive, fools who thought it was not their problem.
Its being compromised, threatened with outing you can see where this was going.
“It is estimated his work shortened the war in Europe by more than two years and saved more than 14 million lives.”
Any truth to this claim can anyone tell me?
Girls should not be playing sports to begin with
So were a lot of their royals.
Just curious...why not?
Sports make you dirty and smell...be a thinker, not a stinker!;)
Yes, it seemed to afflict a lot of the wealthy classes back in those days. The rich often feel entitled to break any and every rule or moral.
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