Hello Sailor!
One sailor reportedly picked up a prostitute who he believed to be female. Realising he wasn't who she appeared to be, the sailor reportedly declared: "Blimey, you're all there!" Nevertheless, he apparently became "infatuated".
This kind of incident led admirals to argue that most of the men accused were only inadvertently homosexual, rather than dangerous "perverts".
The Royal Navy apparently got its knickers into a right twist over the behaviour of some of its recruits back in the 1960s, according to documents revealed by the Public Records Office. One of the things I've never really understood is the circularity of the whole 'open to blackmail' argument. If the thing wasn't so stigmatised in the first place, there wouldn't be anything people could be blackmailed for....
November 1st, 2002 - 00:15
It’s one of those weird paradoxes isn’t it. Kind of like Rock Stars couldn’t be Rock Stars unless they were adored by their fans. Almost self prophising. The Navy has always had an interesting association with homosexuality though. That many blokes, all that testosterone, no birds and yet a manly proper job. Most conflicting. Which was interesting in the first Faking It of the season. He seemed to admonish a lifestyle that was strangely similar from what he was familiar with. Lads having fun together. Most intuiging.
November 2nd, 2002 - 12:28
About seven years ago I had to be a character a reference for a colleague who needed to have a higher level of security clearance for a job. She, another friend and I were interviewed by a bloke from MoD. He was entirely unperturbed by her occasional dalliance with cannabis, but asked me in 20 different ways whether there was the slightest possibility that I had got the subtlest impression that she might possibly have the tiniest of lesbian tendencies.
November 2nd, 2002 - 12:43
And sadly, it’s been more than just the MoD. I actually once applied for a job with the Diplomatic Service – back when I first left school and was a good deal less certain about certain matters than I am now. It was actually during the selection process that I realised that I effectively had to de-select myself because of this ridiculous “You could be blackmailed” thing. The exact phrase they used in the paperwork was “Homosexuality, even if admitted [gotta love the wording] is an absolute bar to working in the Diplomatic Service.”
Weird – I just realised that twenty years later I can still remember that phrase.