Q&A with James Wharton

I was fortunate enough one lunch break to catch up with the incredible James Wharton, author of Out In The Army: My  Life as a Gay Soldier. Wharton, 27,  has recently released a new edition of the book that chronicles an intense and fascinating period of his life. I would strongly implore anyone to read it, not just out of a curiosity for either the LGBT scene or life in the army, but for a wonderfully illustrated snapshot into something so very personal and human. The book is incredible and I have found it very hard to put down… but don’t take my word for it, with an endorsement by no less than Stephen Fry brandished across the cover you know it’s worth a read! So read on as we talk politics, LGBT and Tom Hardy (PHWOAR.)

 

1. For our readers who may not have heard of your book, “Out in the Army”, could you tell us a bit about it?

Out in the army is a snapshot of 10 years modern history. It shows how the army has evolved over a ten year period starting from 2003. Issues from the 90s were playing a part in the brutality of the army in 2003 and I try to explain best I can through my own experiences how the army matured into a modern employer with regards to diversity during my ten years there.

 

2. How did you decide you wanted to write a book about everything?

I became involved with equality and made contacts who were writers, @PaulBurston , @Matt Cain  and @Jonathan Harvey, who all encouraged me to write about it, the experiences of being this out gay person in the military.

I get asked all the time, even now I get random tweets off of people asking how to get published, it’s really really hard. I’m the anomaly, as getting a book deal for me, wasn’t overly difficult. But I strongly believe we all have a book in us. And writing a book opens up so many more opportunities.

 

3. It’s fascinating reading your determination to join the army from such a young age. What advice would you give your 16 year old self now?

I got in trouble answering this at a school event (laughs)

I’d say you’re going to go on the craziest journey. You will make mistakes but you don’t always have to sleep with people just because they’re there, something I would certainly say to the 19 year old me more in life.  Also relax. I’d definitely tell myself to relax. I learned this after my time in Iraq.

 

4. It feels like understanding of the LGBTQ community has come on so far over the past few decades yet there is some very hard hitting moments in your book. What do you think are the biggest issues facing the community today?

It’s coming up for 50 years since being gay was first decriminalised .I’m really interested to see how we celebrate that actually. The first gay marriages were this year. I really feel that compared to a lot of other countries we are very advanced and we should be proud of how far we’ve come. We’ve had 50 years though; it was 2000 for the army. That’s 50 years compared to 14. It feels like the army is expected to just catch up and they should, they should follow the same rules as everybody else but they haven’t had as long. This makes their achievement much more considerable.

But back to your question, I think trans equality is a long way behind (queue lot’s of nodding from myself!) there still seems to be a public stigma towards the trans community. I think we, as a community, need to stand by our brothers and sisters as they go through that.

Also homophobia in the school setting. According to Stonewall it’s reached crisis point. But we need to do something about that at Government level. Schools have it written into their rules that racism isn’t acceptable and having that in the code of conduct is proven to decrease it, so why not do the same with homophobia? The legislation needs to change.

 

5. You became something of an icon as the first openly gay man to appear on the cover of Soldier magazine, how did it impact you suddenly being in the limelight for your sexuality?

It was very much 0-100, it happened so quickly. One minute I’m working then suddenly I was going for interviews, being invited to do speeches… it was a rollercoaster. I was only maybe 22/23 at the time.. if I could give myself one bit of advice…well, I had a partner at the time, Ryan, who was in his final year doing his dissertation and I think I could have given him a bit more support instead of going off to parties and meeting famous people.

But back then I was flavour of the month and something I have definitely learned is you get forgotten quickly in the fame game.

 

6. Your Twitter had a sneaky peek of what looked like a script recently, can you give us any clues what that’s about?

Now that I’m actually allowed to yeah, six months down the line. Basically six months ago I was approached by this stage writer who is working on a play about gay equality in the military. He wanted to work on parts of my book for his play originally, but then changed his mind and decided to write the play on my book alone. Now we’ve got the first draft. I’ve been reading it everywhere. It’s odd reading my 16 year old self saying things. I’m going to help out now, just while its at first draft stage, and then I will step back and leave the team to it.

 

7. Which actor would you like to see play you as a character and what do you think would be the biggest challenge of the role?

(Immediately) Tom Hardy. I’ve been asked this one before can you tell? I think his biggest challenge would be being as good looking as me (laughs) No, just Tom Hardy because I fancy him. I was at a party last night and somebody suggested Daniel Radcliffe, and I thought; not bad!

 

8. You’ve written quite a few articles for the Huffington Post and recently the Independent, what’s next on the agenda for you?

I really enjoy writing. It’s a wonderful feeling to pitch an idea to an editor and get it printed.. and get paid for it! I like writing for an audience. Although I’m moving away from LGBT writing now and trying to write more political pieces.

In the army you don’t really get a voice. When you’re woken up at 2am to go and get a tree that’s fallen on the railway… You feel like cannon fodder. I think that dedication needs rewarding. There’s no representation like unions. Industrial action isn’t a possibility for soldiers. I mean it’s illegal but imagine if we all took the day off work and the French decided to invade. It’s not like the Tube, and I don’t agree with that, but at least they get listened to. So I want to write more about our armed forces and the realities of a life in the army.

 

9. Any parting words of wisdom for our readers?

I didn’t get a degree or any advanced education and I think there’s this emphasis on youngsters to achieve academically, that you go to university and get a job in London but I don’t believe in that. I believe anyone can achieve anything at any point in their life. I mean if you’d told me as a 14 year old boy on a council estate, probably drinking cider on the corner of a street somewhere, that I’d be working in London and writing for a national newspaper I wouldn’t believe you.

I think everyone has a natural direction and they should follow that. Also, I know it’s said a lot, but I think everyone has a book in them. Everyone has an ability to write a book.