Gays in the Military: What About the UK, France, and Other EU Countries?

Despite recent attempts by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for gays in the military, this peculiar brainchild of the Clinton Administration remains in full effect. Offering an awkward stalemate for gays who want to serve in the military, the policy asks non-heterosexual soldiers to keep their orientation private in exchange for not being asked about it in the first place – a trade-off replete with grey areas, inconsistencies, and challenges in practice. The United States has maintained its policy on gays in the military since 1993 despite near-constant criticism.

So what about the UK, France, and other countries in the EU? How do those armies and navies handle the issue of gays in the military?

Well, there are numerous countries, some with powerful militaries, that either (a) guarantee gay citizens the right to serve openly by offering protections, or (b) do not maintain an official policy protecting gays in the military but do not have a policy banning them from service either. Most EU nations, along with some non-EU countries, fall into one of these two categories.

This does not mean that gay soldiers in these countries do not experience some degree of discrimination based on their sexual orientation. Certainly, anti-gay social mores, institutional corruption, and personal prejudices still present challenges outside the United States. But at least in the UK, France, and many other EU countries, the military itself does not ban openly gay soldiers or discharge them merely for “homosexual conduct” as we do in the US. Consider the following EU nations and their policies on gays in the military: