“I knew what my sexuality was but it wasn't something that was going to hinder what I was going to do,” he said. “I remember not being asked when I went to fill in the paperwork. No one said, 'By the way, are you gay?'”



Martin didn’t come out for the duration of his service, but said he did not find it difficult to remain closeted.

“I was comfortable with my sexuality," he said. "I was careful about what I did. I didn't have any problems, I wasn't conflicted by it. I did feel that it was unfair that for something that was intensely private, you could be held accountable. For something that would cause no harm.”

The spread of AIDS in the mid-'80s presented a difficult new challenge for both for gay and bisexual service people and those working in military health.

Prior to the AIDS epidemic military policemen would attempt to weed out gay and bisexual service people.

“They would go into gay clubs and look for people with suspiciously short hair, who looked military, and question them,” Martin said.

When AIDS hit the witch-hunts intensified. Martin believed the military strategy was: “We've got to get rid of people straight away, because they're a cost and a risk to the military.”

This attitude placed “significant stress and pressure” on gay and bisexual service people.

“When people were found out to be gay or lesbian, they were not only hit with 'You're going to be kicked out', but also, 'Who else do you know, who else have you had sex with?'”

The fear was compounded by military healthcare and blood donation drives.

“If you're in the military, you have to go to your military doctor,” Martin said. “[A service person] might take a blood test and find [they were HIV positive], and [they] didn't even know about it.

“It came to the point where people were starting to be tested for HIV and the military said, 'You can't be in the military if you’re HIV positive'.”

The ban on HIV positive soldiers remains to this day.

Martin said he was lucky to escape the witch-hunts due to his rank and his colleagues.

“The team I worked in were very compassionate, caring health professionals who didn't believe what was being pushed down by command.”

Martin left the military in 1989 and now serves as a board member of DEFGLIS, the ADF’s LGBTI organisation. He said the ADF is a “significant leader” in integrating LGBTI personnel.

“I know the [parliamentary] Cabinet conversations were very fraught,” he said. “People were dead against it. The military command were being dragged along, the government saying you will do this. It was a great, momentous time.”