MI5 are Great!

Britain’s M15 domestic spy agency has been named as one of the country’s top employers of LGBT people.

The agency, which until relatively recently banned gay people as a ‘security risk’ on the grounds of blackmail, now operates a diversity policy.

It says:

We recruit people who will directly increase the skills and experience within our organisation and make it more effective. Our members of staff increasingly come from a range of backgrounds and cultures. And an in depth knowledge and understanding of a variety of communities and languages isn’t just an advantage, it is crucial for our work.

M15 has been named for the first time in the top 100 of the Equality Index, produced annually by UK LGBT group Stonewall. The Index ranks employers, most of which are large corporations and government departments and agencies, according to how ‘gay-friendly’ they are.

In the US, the Human Rights Campaign runs a similar annual Corporate Equality Index. The FBI has welcomed gay and lesbian recruits since the ‘Buttino v. FBI’ case ended the dismissal of openly gay staff in 1993.