By Jean Eaglesham
Financial Times
Published: August 18 2008 03:00
MI5, the UK security service, is looking to recruit more gay staff - following many investment banks and private sector employers - in a move that reflects dramatic changes in the attitudes of the British establishment over the last decade.
Stonewall, the gay lobby group, has been hired to advise MI5, the domestic arm of the intelligence services, on how to encourage its spies to be more open about their sexuality and how to attract more gay applicants for posts.
The contract marks a significant change in stance by MI5. Gay men and women were barred from working in sensitive posts in the diplomatic or security services until the early 1990s, a quarter of a century after sexual acts between men were decriminalised in 1967. The ostensible rationale was concern that gay spies could be vulnerable to blackmail, while gay ambassadors could exacerbate tensions between the UK and countries that still criminalise homosexuality.
Financial Times
Published: August 18 2008 03:00
MI5, the UK security service, is looking to recruit more gay staff - following many investment banks and private sector employers - in a move that reflects dramatic changes in the attitudes of the British establishment over the last decade.
Stonewall, the gay lobby group, has been hired to advise MI5, the domestic arm of the intelligence services, on how to encourage its spies to be more open about their sexuality and how to attract more gay applicants for posts.
The contract marks a significant change in stance by MI5. Gay men and women were barred from working in sensitive posts in the diplomatic or security services until the early 1990s, a quarter of a century after sexual acts between men were decriminalised in 1967. The ostensible rationale was concern that gay spies could be vulnerable to blackmail, while gay ambassadors could exacerbate tensions between the UK and countries that still criminalise homosexuality.
Comments
Post a Comment
What do you think?