Great Britain: Gay soldier to wed partner (Dad of 3 to live with new 'wife' in Army quarters)

The Sun (U.K.) ^ | January 23, 2006

[Stoat]

EXCLUSIVE

Gay soldier to wed partner

New life ... for gay Cpl Neal
 

By THE INVESTIGATOR

 A GAY soldier is to wed his boyfriend in the first open civil partnership in the armed forces.

Cpl Andy Neal, 32, is currently married to a woman, but has left her to start a new life with his male lover, 27.

The dad-of-three split from his wife and kids soon after returning from war-torn Iraq last year. His civilian gay lover now stays with him in barracks instead. They met in November — after Cpl Neal’s DAD set him up on a blind date.

The infantryman hopes to become the first soldier to have a public gay wedding and live in Army married quarters with his lover.

He said: “It would be the final taboo broken.”


 

I do ... when he married wife Julie
 

The Ministry of Defence say at least one gay couple have secretly wed already — but none have gone public.

Cpl Neal, stationed in Pirbright, Surrey, joined up in 1991 and wed wife Julie three years later.

He confessed he was gay weeks after the wedding — but kept quiet because of the Army ban on homosexuals at the time.

Cpl Neal said Julie emailed him last April as he fought in Iraq with the Royal Anglian Regiment to tell him she wanted to divorce.

The Army have supported him. He said. “From top to bottom, they have been brilliant.”
 

• THE UK’s three million gays earned over £70billion last year, according to a new survey of the pink pound.

[Stoat]

Pardon me while I leave the room for awhile....feeling more than slightly sick at the moment.....

[countorlock]

Boy they sure are ahead of the curve there in gay ole England on that particular race.

I used to like Blair until he stated the injustice of gays not being able to adopt has been righted.

[RexBeach]

Where does this madness end? Will Brits end up getting permission to marry goats and sheep and cattle? Good Lord, this is disgraceful.

This corp didn't show up in this world 'cause his dad was doing the "honkey-pokey" with some hairy bloke.

Geez.

[RegulatorCountry]

"From top to bottom, they have been brilliant."

LOL.

[garyhope]

Some people just don't have quite enough to do with their lives do they?

[DM1]

Geez his wife (er the woman pictured there) looks cute. too bad

[Old Seadog]

You'll have to wait your turn. I'm all ready using the toilet. BARF

[Albion Wilde]

Excuse me, he stuck around long enough to have three kids and he's barely out of his 20s? And now he thinks he's gay? This guy needs a medical leave.

[Bigg Red]

His civilian gay lover now stays with him in barracks instead.

&&
In the barracks!? What's up with that? Does not sound like military discipline to me. Can any British soldier bring some civilian into the barracks to live? What if he brought in a woman? Suppose he brought in a terrorist?

I don't pretend to know anything about our military's culture let alone that of the Brits, but, even ignoring the homo garbage, something's amiss here.

[TXBubba]

He confessed he was gay weeks after the wedding

So are the three kids theirs or his with someone else? I had a friend whose hubby "came out" while she was pregnant with their first baby. It was the first and only baby.

[ExcursionGuy84]

Exactly!

Reminds me of a a BIBLE verse that goes like:

"Will a Man leave the pure snow-waters of Lebenon for strange waters?"

*Emphasis added.

[El Gato]

I don't see any mention of a divorce from his first "wife". But since he told her he was gay not long after the wedding, I guess it's possible she is glad to be rid of him. Although I would think 3 weeks would be long enough to make it obvious, although that begs the question of where the 3 kids came from. Open marriage maybe?

[pobodys nerfect]

He confessed AFTER the wedding?? What a jerk! Why didn't he tell her before and save her the heartache? Self centered creep!!

[Stoat]

(((((((((((((("Just Damn" Ping))))))))))))))

[The_Republican]

His DAD introduced his married Son to his gay lover. Sodom and Gommorha!

[GermanBusiness]

What concerns me is that gays in England may soon be flocking to the forces to have a great "barracks life." Then there is the issue of field blood transfusions. I can see, especially due to this last consideration, many fine young British men in the future *wanting* to serve their country...but deciding its too gay to do so and too potentially life threatening if they ever need a field transfusion.

[El Gato]

In the barracks!? What's up with that?

I *hope* its a difference in terminology. We really don't have barracks anymore, more like dormitories, with two or three "man" rooms. I don't think we allow civilians to live there, but I guess if it weren't for the shared bathroom facilities, I guess having a wife in there instead of a same sex roommate wouldn't be *too* disruptive.

However I suspect by "barracks" they mean something like "military provided quarters".

[Chode]

so now it's Rum, Sodomy and the Lash AND BaseHousing is that it???

[Sergio]

Part of a trend, the commies and liberals can't beat the armed forces of the civilized western world, so they do little things like this to destroy the military from within.

Personally, I think we should go back to the old male heterosexuals only in combat and combat support roles. End of story. Then we should build a really solid wall, and tell those who don't like it, to pound their heads against it.

Best Regards

Sergio

[USS Alaska]

"Excuse me, he stuck around long enough to have three kids and he's barely out of his 20s? And now he thinks he's gay? This guy needs a medical leave."

Nah, the kids belong to his dad, why do you think the old man set him up with another buttboy? Brilliant, indeed!