Gay soldier raises £4,000 for Stonewall

A gay soldier raised £4,000 for Stonewall on Sunday by running the Brighton Marathon in four hours and 52 minutes.

Lance Corporal James Wharton, who served in Iraq, is currently touring schools nationwide as a positive gay role model on behalf of the gay rights charity.

He is giving assemblies and talking to teachers and pupils about joining Stonewell’s anti-bullying campaign and the army.

L/Cpl Wharton became the first gay man to appear on the cover of Soldier magazine in 2009. Last year, he and his partner had the Household Cavalry’s first civil partnership.

He said after the marathon: “It was a pleasure to run for a cause I’m passionate about – although pounding the streets in camouflage trousers and army boots in temperatures over 20 degrees was as hard as any army mission I’ve completed!”

Seven other runners joined him in running the Brighton Marathon on behalf of Stonewall, together raising over £7,000.

The charity says that nine out of ten teachers see homophobic bullying, but nine out of ten have never received training on how to tackle it.