My name is Yvonne Sillett
I'm a 61-year-old, gay veteran.
I served in the Royal Australian Army
from the 22nd of January 1979
until the 2nd of February 1989.
I was the very first female to raise
a female platoon at 1 Recruit
Training Battalion at Kapooka.
Up until 1985, females had
always trained separately in Sydney.
And in January 1985, female recruits
went to 1 Recruit Training Battalion
and I was the first female Section
Commander.
I loved everything about it.
I loved the camaraderie.
I loved the physical aspect.
I loved the drill.
I loved the mateship.
And most of all, I loved the sport.
I had to learn
how to fire a rifle.
I had to strip and assemble a rifle.
I had to climb walls.
I had to climb ropes.
I'd never done that before
because it was a new world
for women in the military at that stage.
I found that challenging, but not as
challenging as being gay in the military.
One afternoon on shift,
I received a phone call to say
I had to go down to Victoria Barracks
for a security interview.
I had no clue what this was about.
I went down there, and I was confronted
by male Sergeant and a female Sergeant
who said they knew
that I was homosexual.
They had been following me.
And at that point in time
I knew my career was about to end.
I was an exemplary soldier.
I was a trailblazer.
I felt that I did nothing wrong.
I was going to be promoted
to a sergeant.
I was going to go back to being a
training instructor as a sergeant.
And due to my sexuality, that all
came crashing down. I was shattered.
And I was devastated that
my career came
to a premature halt simply for being me.
So, it's given me discipline,
it's given me confidence,
and now it's given me the ability
to try and fight for justice, for the way
many ADF members
because of their sexuality were treated.
So, it's given me the power, strength
to speak for others.
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