Playwright hopes LGBT veterans are 'never forgotten'

A play depicting the experiences of women thrown out of the military because of their sexuality is being brought to audiences to ensure their stories are "never forgotten".

Joy Beresford Frye, from Brampton, Norfolk, wrote the play Out and Out nine years ago after the experience of one woman affected by the ban left her shocked.

This month, Out and Out will be performed on four dates across Norfolk and Suffolk, with a final performance at the Maddermarket Theatre in Norwich on 26 June.

"There are still stories to be told," Ms Beresford Frye said. "Some of the women are welcoming having their medals and badges returned... the other section of women are saying it's far too little - and far too late."

The play recounts the lives of women who were affected by a ban on LGBT people serving in the military, which was lifted in January 2000.

A landmark report into the long-standing impact of the ban on veterans of the armed forces was published by Lord Etherton in 2023.

Forty-nine recommendations were made to the government, who apologised, with former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calling it an "appalling failure of the British state".

Ms Beresford Frye said: "Some women left before they were found out.

"Women who were thrown out and their families were told why and they hadn't come out to their families yet.

It just goes on and on and on."

She said she shared a first draft of the play with women who had played a role in her research, saying it helped them feel less alone.

"They all felt strange for feeling it but nevertheless, they felt comforted by the fact it happened to other people, as they were so lonely," she said.

"Losing your career, your pension, your friends, the incredible camaraderie people talk about in being with the armed forces...you have to start again and you're on your own."

The experiences and stories of the characters in Out and Out are based on real women.

"Talking to them on Zoom and on the phone, you get a real feeling of the pain and sadness still with all of them. It's horrible," she added.

"They were treated inhumanely, very cruelly."

Veterans who were dismissed or discharged due to their sexual orientation are now able to receive £50,000 in compensation, with additional payments of up to £20,000 available.

After the play caught the attention of a London producer days before the Covid-19 pandemic, leaving it on hold, Out and Out had its premiere in front of an audience at the Mercury Theatre in Colchester, last year.

After an opening night at The Seagull Theatre in Lowestoft, Suffolk on Friday, it will continue to travel to Beccles Public Hall on 12 June, Diss Corn Hall in Norfolk on 13 June - and finish at the Maddermarket Theatre in Norwich on 26 June.

Ms Beresford Frye said being able to bring it to audiences was "partly rewarding" as knowing anyone who had been through it could gain "some sort of comfort that they weren't alone".

Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.