About 820 veterans previously kicked out of the military for their sexual orientation will have their dismissals upgraded to honorable discharges following a year-long review of their service records.
The upgrades were announced Tuesday morning by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who said the effort was undertaken “to redress the harms done by ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ and other policies on these former service members.”
The review was prompted by complaints among veterans that the process for upgrading discharge status was overly complicated and adversarial.
The changes mean that those veterans for the first time will be able to access certain VA education, health and financial benefits, a potential windfall for them and their families.
The military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy was put in place in 1993 as a compromise to allow some level of military service for gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals. But advocates said the policy was enforced erratically and discriminatorily, and forced those troops to keep secrets about their personal lives from friends and commanders, to the detriment of unit cohesiveness.
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Nearly 13,500 service members were forced out of the military under the policy, according to Defense Department records.
The policy was repealed in 2011, allowing LGBT individuals to serve openly in the ranks for the first time. In his statement Tuesday, Austin said that because of military review policies in recent years, 96% of the individuals forced out of the service under the law have now been awarded honorable discharge status.
“We will continue to honor the service and the sacrifice of all our troops, including the brave Americans who raised their hands to serve but were turned away because of whom they love,” he said. “We will continue to strive to do right by every American patriot who has honorably served their country.”
Defense officials said individuals eligible for upgrades because of the most recent review will be contacted by department staffers on next steps for getting appropriate paperwork and benefits applications.
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
