J
Jeffrey
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LONDON (AFP) - The British army joined in a gay pride march for the first time, an army spokesman said.
Troops in uniform joined the annual Gay Pride festival in Manchester, northern England, on the march through the city centre, with thousands of supporters watching from the sidelines.
The army was out to attract homosexual recruits and show it can be gay-friendly.
Soldiers gave out sweets as their float travelled along the two-mile (three-kilometre) course, following a float of muscular men in pink Lycra shorts dancing to music and blowing whistles.
“We don’t really care what sexual orientation you are if you want to come and join us in the army,” said Logistics Corps warrant officer Lutha Magloire, 39, part of the Army’s Diversity Action and Recruitment Team.
"The army reflects society and we must recruit from all sections, so if there is prejudice in society it will be in the army also.
“But the army can only get better the more it represents all the community.”
The British army has attended cultural events before, Magloire said, but this was the service’s gay festival debut.
The Royal Air Force took part for a second successive year, with a float featuring a plane’s cockpit.
Though several marchers were dressed in sailors’ uniforms, there was no official Royal Navy representation.
Until January 2003, Britain’s armed forces were legally allowed to dismiss homosexual officers.
The march kicked off a three-day festival, attracting an estimated 250,000 people to Britain’s third city.
news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050827/wl_uk_afp/britainmilitarygay_050827182056
Troops in uniform joined the annual Gay Pride festival in Manchester, northern England, on the march through the city centre, with thousands of supporters watching from the sidelines.
The army was out to attract homosexual recruits and show it can be gay-friendly.
Soldiers gave out sweets as their float travelled along the two-mile (three-kilometre) course, following a float of muscular men in pink Lycra shorts dancing to music and blowing whistles.
“We don’t really care what sexual orientation you are if you want to come and join us in the army,” said Logistics Corps warrant officer Lutha Magloire, 39, part of the Army’s Diversity Action and Recruitment Team.
"The army reflects society and we must recruit from all sections, so if there is prejudice in society it will be in the army also.
“But the army can only get better the more it represents all the community.”
The British army has attended cultural events before, Magloire said, but this was the service’s gay festival debut.
The Royal Air Force took part for a second successive year, with a float featuring a plane’s cockpit.
Though several marchers were dressed in sailors’ uniforms, there was no official Royal Navy representation.
Until January 2003, Britain’s armed forces were legally allowed to dismiss homosexual officers.
The march kicked off a three-day festival, attracting an estimated 250,000 people to Britain’s third city.
news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050827/wl_uk_afp/britainmilitarygay_050827182056
