Australian Army Journal

OPINION
Brothers and Sisters in Arms:
Experiences of Gay Soldiers in the
Australian Army
The experience of the female corporal on operations highlights that simply being
‘out’ does not guarantee you will not be bullied. Nor is it correct to assume that
those who are bullied or hide their sexuality are incompetent. A male sergeant from
The Royal Australian Army Medical Corps wrote:
You have to be thick skinned for this job … you have to accept a level of
homophobia and pick your battles. You’d never get any work done if you
complained about every inappropriate comment … no one would think you
were a team player.
This comment says a great deal about the culture of ‘not reporting’ in the Army.
I too had no desire to report or investigate the fact that someone had written the
word ‘fag’ against my name in the Guard Room. Four years on, if the incident
occurred again, I’d probably behave in the same manner and ignore it. The female
corporal on operations reported harassment but felt she got nowhere, feeling that
her chain of command had adopted an attitude of ‘not reporting’ by sweeping her
problem under the carpet by sending her home. Lieutenant Colonel Paul Morgan
spoke publicly about the failings of the chain of command in dealing with those
associated with the Facebook page that vilified serving gay soldiers. This bias
towards ‘not reporting’ does the organisation a disservice. In seeking to shore up
its strength, protect individuals and reputations, we inevitably undermine them.
The Chief of Army challenges this mindset with his recent comment, ‘the standard
you walk past is the standard you accept.’ In many ways this speaks against the
culture of ‘not reporting.’ Whether individuals don’t want to ‘rock the boat’ or they
feel their chain of command has adopted a similar strategy, cultural change in the
Army will require the attitude of ‘not reporting’ to also change. Evidence of this
cultural change can be seen in the example provided by the male corporal
who complained about inappropriate behaviour in his training institution.
According to him, his complaint, combined with those of his gay and straight
peers, was handled well and justice was served.
So what?
This article has highlighted various experiences of gay soldiers in the Australian Army.
Many things make these soldiers different: their experiences, their sex, their age,
their corps and their unit. More important than their differences is what they all
share — the desire to serve, the desire to belong to a team that accepts them and
the desire to achieve their full potential as human beings. These similarities link
them to the rest of the soldiers in the Australian Army for surely we all share these
motivations. For some, it is clear from their experiences that they have achieved
Australian Army Journal
Culture edition 2013, Volume X, Number 3 Page 223