It was an open secret that the WRAC in particular was full of lesbians, but the uofficial policy was that you were ok if you were 'discreet'.
About 60 people a year were kicked out of the military for 'conduct unbecoming,' but when the Blair govt got in they lowered the age of consent for men to 18 in 1999 (wanted to make it 16 but were defeated in the Lords, didn't finally become equal until 2003.)
Anyways, the new mood of tolerance saw a lot of men and women in the army stick their heads above the parapet, and they were duly mown down. From 60 the figure shot up to 300 in 1999, with the redcaps using a document that advised them how to spot one, e.g, the record collection.
Faced with an immient lifting of the ban, a survey was circulated and serving troops were 'encouraged' to say they'd be scared for their family jewels and would definitely shoot their bunkmate if they suspected anything, etc.
This was also the era of Deepcut, where drill sargeants were forcing female recruits into sex to avoid demerits etc, and half a dozen young squaddies shot themselves in the heads multiple times with an SLR in 'suicides.'