Smith and Grady lost the Article 3 complaint because the facts of their cases failed to reach the minimum level of severity needed. They lost the Article 10 charge because it was deemed unnecessary since they had won the Article 8 complaint. With Article 13, the Court found the minimum threshold of the rationality test in domestic courts to be so high as effectively to deprive the courts of the opportunity to consider whether the investigations and subsequent discharges of the applicants served the national security claims of the government.

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With its decision, the Court became the first final appellate court in the world to invalidate a ban on lesbian, gay, and bisexual military personnel under a human rights treaty or constitution. The verdict could not force Britain to change its laws. However, pressure from the Court had a significant impact, particularly since Britain prides itself on its human rights record and its membership in the European community. Consequently, Britain ended its ban in 2000.

Modern Greece is a conservative society in which there is little tolerance for openly queer lifestyles, but activists have worked since the 1970s to improve the status of gay men and lesbians.

Given the dominance of the Roman Catholic church on its culture, Ireland was a country in the closet until relatively recent times.

Attitudes toward gay and lesbian personnel in European militaries vary widely, from the acceptance of the Dutch to the laissez-faire policy of the French to the rejection of the Greek and Turkish forces.

Although challenges remain, Portugal has made progress in recent years toward affording equal opportunity to its glbtq citizens.

Lesbian and gay couples have been fighting for the freedom to marry since the dawn of the modern glbtq struggle for equality; despite some success abroad, progress toward same-sex marriage in the United States has been slow.

Twentieth-century efforts to reform British law and public opinions about homosexuality met with mixed results, but at the beginning of the twenty-first century the United Kingdom has emerged as a leader in recognizing the rights of its glbtq citizens.

The International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) is a worldwide federation of local and national groups dedicated to achieving equal rights for glbtq people.

The former head of Britain's first gay rights lobbying organization, Angela Mason has worked toward achieving equality for women and glbtq individuals in the United Kingdom.

Literary scholar and senator, David Norris is Ireland's most effective advocate of glbtq rights.