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# Foreign Office apologises for historic ban on LGBTQ+ diplomats
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/foreign-office-apologises-for-historic-ban-on-lgbtq-diplomats/
- Published: 2021-07-07T08:30:50.000Z
- Updated: 2021-07-07T09:27:49.000Z
- Description: The UK Foreign Office has apologised for a 1967 ban on hiring LGBTQ+ diplomats.
- Author: Rachel Badham
- Tags: News, Politics, Queer Corner, LGBTQ, LGBTQ+ equality, MI6, UK

The **UK Foreign Office** has apologised for a 1967 ban on hiring LGBTQ+ diplomats over fears their identity would make them a target for blackmail. The policy later was scrapped in 1991, and now under-secretary **Sir Philip Barton** has [publicly apologised](https://twitter.com/FCDOGovUK/status/1412069814496022532?ref=scenemag.co.uk) for the historic discrimination against queer people in the Foreign Office.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/philip-barton-600-400.jpg)

Sir Philip Barton

Barton explained: *“The ban was in place because there was a perception that LGBTQ+ people were more susceptible than their straight counterparts to blackmail and, therefore, that they posed a security risk.”* However, he acknowledged that this view was “misguided” and has resulted in the diplomatic service ‘depriving’ itself of *“some of the UK’s brighter and best talent.”*

He concluded: *“I want to apologise publicly for the ban and the impact it had on our LGBTQ+ staff and their loved ones…In the 30 years since the ban was lifted, the FCDO has made great progress in becoming a proud and inclusive employer of LGBTQ+ people.”* He also thanked LGBTQ+ diplomats *“for the contributions they have made, and continue to make.”*

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/lgbt-pride-flag-rainbow-1.jpg)

Earlier this year, [MI6 issued a similar apology](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/mi6-chief-apologises-for-lgbtq-staff-ban/) for a historic ban on hiring LGBTQ+ staff. MI6 chief, **Richard Moore**, described the treatment of LGBTQ+ spies as *“wrong, unjust and discriminatory”,* adding: “\[We\] *deprived ourselves of some of the best talent Britain could offer”* by rejecting LGBTQ+ workers.