Coming Home #2 - Veterans’ Mental Health Stories by Re-live

Issue 2 of Coming Home shares stories from LGBTQ+ veterans, who experienced life in the Armed Forces before the lifting of the ‘gay ban’ in 2000.

Under the ban, thousands of LGBTQ+ service personnel were subjected to surveillance and interrogation, and suffered Court Martials, dismissals for conduct unbecoming, and even imprisonment. Many were left with a mental health legacy from the shame and punishments inflicted.

Issue 2 has been made in partnership with Fighting With Pride, the LGBTQ+ military veterans charity.

The release of the comic on 8th January 2025 coincides with the 25th anniversary of the lifting of the ‘gay ban’ in the Armed Forces on 12th January.

Coming Home issue 2 features our veterans working alongside some of the leading LGBTQ+ and allied comic artists in the UK.

The beautiful spread cover for this issue is by Ed Firth (artist in residence at the Tom of Finland house).

Ed also brings to life the story of Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Craig Jones MBE. Craig came out on the day that the Gay Ban was lifted in January 2000 and spent his career fighting for cultural change for his LGBTQ+ colleagues in the Royal Navy.

Cartoonist and illustrator Ria Grix is the artist for ‘The Navigator’ - the story of Flight Lieutenant Caroline Paige MBE who after a career navigating fast jets and supervising helicopter tactics became the first openly serving transgender officer in the British Armed Forces in 1999.

Corporal Ruth Birch and Private Julia Currey met while serving with the British Army in 1980s. After instantly falling in love at first sight they began a secret relationship with its own coded messages until they were eventually discovered by the Army, forcing them to split up following interrogation by the Special Investigation Branch. Their love story is humorous, harrowing and ultimately a triumph of romance. Their artist, Anna Readman (winner of the Observer/Faber graphic short story prize 2023) illustrates Ruth & Ju’s dual story.

Irish LGBTQ+ freelance illustrator, graphic artist and choreographer, AJ O’Neill brings to life the story of Flight Lieutenant Steve Purves. Steve joined the RAF in 1972 as an electrical engineer, and in 1985 was sentenced to six months in prison for a consensual relationship with another man, even though homosexuality had been legalised for civilians in 1967.

Coming Home logo by Richard Starkings.

40 pages

Full color

Suitable for Mature Readers

Publisher: Re-Live

Genres: Mental health, autobiographical comics, war comics, Graphic Medicine