News - Military news

Proud2serve.net, launched earlier this year, is a new website for lesbian and gay service personnel in the British Military. Aimed primarily at Royal Navy/Royal Marines, British Army and Royal Air Force personnel its audience also extends to the Reserve Forces and partners of the serving.

There are an estimated 15 000 lesbian and gay sailors, soldiers and airmen serving in the United Kingdom and on operations around the globe on a day to day basis; until the creation of proud2serve.net there has not been a single location on the internet where they can obtain comprehensive advice and information on issues relating to the gay lifestyle within the military. proud2serve.net fills the gap between official publications and general lifestyle websites, catering to the unique concerns of gay service personnel.

proud2serve.net has already attracted visitors from all services, regular and reserve, and their partners. With well over 10 000 page views during August 2005 it is well on its way to meeting its target of being the community website for lesbian and gay service personnel in the British Military.

Areas on the site include:

Help and Advice :: A selection of caring sites with a focus on serving and ex-serving, including support for harassment and bullying within the forces.

Documents :: extracts from, and links to, the key documents and guidelines from the Ministry of Defence, single service policy documents and objectives relating to the code of conduct, equal opportunities, bullying, personnel strategy etc.

Lifestyle :: informal advice and information about the gay lifestyle, about gender orientation, sexuality, coming out and lifestyle choices and about equal rights for all. For those unsure about how far the military have progressed in these things, compare the way it was.

Links :: a comprehensive selection covering advice and help, networking on the Internet and gay and military news stories.

Partnership :: a section dedicated to the new landscape of civil partnership in the United Kingdom, together with key civil and military references.

Shopping :: find what you need in this categorised selection of on-line retailers.
“ Proud2serve is not exercising gay rights - but is exercising equal rights. We aim to inform, support and sustain the military community in the UK rather than be campaigners for any particular group. We hope that the information will also dispel ignorance and even fears on the part of straight colleagues who are still unsure about what being gay actually means, and remove the tensions that uncertainty and ignorance in the workplace can cause.”

proud2serve.net is run by currently serving personnel and their partners and is entirely independent of the Ministry of Defence and the single services.

proud2serve.net press release :: 24 Aug 05

released via I-Newswire.com: Website for gay/lesbian military personnel in the UK launched