King Charles dedicates memorial to LGBTQ troops | JQJO

King Charles III dedicated Britain’s first national memorial to LGBTQ troops at the National Memorial Arboretum, 25 years after the U.K. ended its ban on homosexuality in the armed forces. The crumpled bronze letter bears words from personnel affected by the ban, which saw dismissals between 1967 and 2000. The ban was lifted after a 1999 European Court of Human Rights ruling; in 2023 Rishi Sunak apologized and set compensation up to £70,000. Veterans and serving members attended, with moving tributes. Later in Lichfield, a heckler questioned him about Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein; he did not respond.