Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said his comments about gay people serving in the military were him "speaking rubbish".
The former Scots Guard captain was quoted in 1999 saying homosexual people joining the military would cause "sexual friction".
At the time, Mr Wallace was speaking ahead of a ban on gay people serving in the armed forces being lifted after a European Court of Human Rights ruling.
He said gay people could "weaken" the military by "introducing sexual friction between individuals."
Now, the Tory has admitted he was "probably wrong" in making his comments, reports The Press and Journal.
He told the publication: "What I would probably say is that the world has moved on, and I think, you know, I’d just say I was wrong on that observation.
"I think I’d look back and say, ‘Actually, you know what, what a load of rubbish really’.
"But you know I was part of that culture. Society has moved on. It’s a different world."
Gay people have been allowed to serve openly in the armed forces since 2000.
Mr Wallace attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst before being commissioned in 1991 into the Scots Guards.
Between 1991 and 1998, he served in Germany, Cyprus, Belize and Northern Ireland.
He left the Army in 1999 when he became Conservative member of the Scottish Parliament.
