THE LIFE AND LONELY DEATH OF THE PILOT REJECTED FOR BEING 'GAY'- letter to NZ Herald

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The title and entire tenor of "The life and lonely death of the pilot rejected for being gay" (NZ Herald October 21) would persuade us that being "outed and isolated" by the Air Force was the reason why, twelve years later, Squadron Leader Peter Rule took his own life.

The sad reality is that the homosexual lifestyle - hidden by Rule until after his cruel rejection by the Force but then discreetly exposed - ends in suicide more often than for heteros, and more often because of crises, conflict and violence in relationships than rejection by family or employers. 

So it would seem that if "A Rainbow Legacy: the Squadron Leader Peter Rule Story" encourages more homosexuals to join the Force, it will hardly enhance its service to the nation. 

If it encourages more impressionable, vulnerable teenagers to embrace a lifestyle that enhances their chances of death by suicide, the Squadron Leader Peter Rule Memorial Trophy for "influencing positively the inclusive culture of the NZDF”  will prove not so much "a fixture" of the Force, as a failure.