Fighting with Pride (with LGBTQ+ veterans Ruth Birch and Julia Curry)

On this ITV Pridecast Liam introduces new co-host Jess Clayton who will be joining him to interview guests on the show. Jess is a journalist for ITV Wales and works on a range of both English language and Welsh language programmes. Whilst working at ITV, she has become a member of the ITV Pride network and has been part of panel discussions talking about what it’s like to be a lesiban woman in the UK today.

For this episode of the podcast Liam and Jess look back on a Pridecast which was recorded for ITV Pride network members for ITV Pride Day in 2025. Now available to listen to on all main podcast platforms, listeners will be able to hear the story of Ruth Birch and her wife Julia Curry.

Both were members of the army during the 1980s and 90s and were forced out of the military because of their sexuality. Before the year 2000 if a member of the forces was discovered to be LGBTQ+ they could be dishonourably discharged, meaning they would be sacked just because of their sexuality. That came with a criminal record, losing your pension, having medals and berets taken away from you and ultimately being turfed out of the military family.

Ruth Birch from Porthcawl in South Wales along with her wife Julia Curry have spent the last few years campaigning for justice for veterans. Both joined the army in the late 1980s wanting to serve Queen and country and were willing to give the ultimate sacrifice. Although neither were dishonourably discharged they were interrogated over suspicions they were in a relationship by the military police. They had their rooms in their barracks ransacked for any evidence that would incriminate them, were taken into interview rooms to be questioned for hours over a supposed relationship and they were asked to identify any others who might be LGBTQ+.

It all took its toll and eventually Ruth and Ju decided to end their secret relationship and to even leave the armed forces so they didn’t suffer a dishonourable discharge. It’s fair to say both had the heartbreak of losing one another and their careers just because of a policy which was still in place in the military even when homosexuality in the UK had been decriminalised in 1967. It took an incredible 22 years for Ruth and Ju to find one another and rekindle their relationship, with them eventually marrying in 2017.

The campaign for justice for veterans is still ongoing. In 2023 it gained media attention after the LGBT Veterans Independent Review was submitted to the UK Government by Lord Etherton. It set out 49 recommendations on how veterans should receive justice and compensation for the ordeal they went through. The government is still working on implementing those recommendations in a bid to write the wrongs of the past and to make sure LGBTQ+ veterans are welcomed back into the military family.

If you want to find out more information about to work being done to support LGBTQ+ Veterans head over to: https://www.fightingwithpride.org.uk/

Or if you've been affected by anything discussed in this episode, head over to itv.com/advice where there is more information and support.