We Can't Even March Straight

We Can’t Even March Straight, first published in 1995, is Edmund Hall’s ground-breaking account of the brutal treatment of gay and lesbian personnel in the Armed Forces when homosexuality was illegal in the Services. It exposed a secretive and systematic regime of discrimination and interrogation leading to dismissal with disgrace, stripped of medals, pension and service record that devastated lives, careers and reputations, in the name of “good order and military discipline”.

This 30th anniversary edition reflects on the subsequent five year campaign to lift the ban on gays serving their country, overturned in 2000. Drawing on first-hand testimonies and Edmund’s own dismissal from the Royal Navy, it charts the British military’s progress from shame and persecution to a celebration of pride and diversity.

With LGBT+ rights once again under threat in parts of the world, We Can’t Even March Straight remains as urgent, courageous and relevant today as it was thirty years ago; a testament to those who suffered – lest we forget. 

Edmund Hall became a journalist after being sacked by the Royal Navy for being gay in 1988.  His award-winning investigative reporting has appearedin numerous publications, as well as on radio and television. 

We Can’t Even March Straight (1995), was a landmark book investigating the ban on lesbian and gay service members in the British Armed Forces.  This powerful book documents horrific injustices and government intransigence in the 1990s, and it also led to the author starting the legal campaign that led to the lifting of the ban in January 2000.  

Currently, Edmund Hall serves as the Chair of Trustees for Fighting With Pride, a charity supporting LGBT+ veterans and those affected by the legacy of the ‘gay ban’.