New British Army advert encourages LGBTQ people to join

15th January 2018

YouTube

The British Army has launched a brand new advertisement to recruit soldiers, and it encourages women, muslims, people of colour and LGBTQ people to join.

Throughout the animated clip, various soldiers answer questions such as “Can I be a woman in the army?”, “Can I be gay in the army?”, “Can I practice my faith in the army?” and “Can I cry?”

“I grew up with brothers and I’ve always played sports, but I still thought the army was dominated by men, and it wasn’t for me. I decided to get a normal job. Men at work would often talk over me. I felt like I didn’t have a voice, so I decided to go for it, and I joined the army,” says one female narrator.

“It was totally different. All that matters is that you’re good at your job. I recently commissioned as an officer and now I lead a team of 30 women and men. It feels good to finally have my voice heard.”

A male narrator says: “Growing up, I really had my heart set on joining the army. My brother was out in Afghanistan – hearing his experiences, that’s when I knew I wanted to join as a medic.

“I was really worried about whether I’d be accepted, but within days, I was more than confident about being who I was. I’m not afraid to talk about having a boyfriend. I thought I’d have to hide it but, once you’ve done it you think, “why did I make it such a big thing for so long?””

Watch the clip below.

However, the £1.6 million campaign has received criticism for being too “politically correct”.

“Anyone who’s serving, in any capacity, has to be some form of ruffian,” said Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British Forces in Afghanistan from July until November 2003.

“Anyone who’s serving, in any capacity, has to be some form of ruffian. You need to be able to fight hand-to-hand, you have to be willing to get close and kill the enemy.

“It is not a job for a stamp collector or someone who sits behind a desk playing video games. We are getting away from that simple fact and now it is fine as long as the Army is diverse.”