Pentagon to review cases of LGBTQ+ veterans denied honorable discharges
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The Department of Defense seal on a podium at a press conference in August 2023. Photo: Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The military will begin reviewing cases involving LGBTQ+ veterans who may have been forced out of the service under its "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy.
Why it matters: Thousands of veterans could receive retroactive honorable discharges, giving them access to the full amount of benefits for their service.
- The Defense Department announced the initiative Wednesday on the 12th anniversary of the end of the policy, which operated between 1994 and 2011.
- The policy strictly prohibited LGBTQ+ people in the military from revealing their sexual orientations or speaking about their relationships without being discharged.
- Former President Obama repealed the policy in 2011 by certifying legislation that was passed by Congress in 2010.
By the numbers: At least 32,837 LGBTQ service members between 1980 and 2011 were forced out of the military under DADT and other policies that prevented them from serving, according to Defense Department data.
- Over 14,000 of those service members received general, other than honorable, uncharacterized or unknown discharge or separation characterizations throughout those decades.
- Any discharge below honorable would have prevented those service members from receiving the full spectrum of veterans benefits.
What they're saying: The Pentagon for the last decade has attempting making it easier for veterans who may have been discharged based on their sexual orientation to obtain corrective relief, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said.
- "For decades, our LGBTQ+ Service members were forced to hide or were prevented from serving altogether. Even still, they selflessly put themselves in harm's way for the good of our country and the American people," Austin said.
- "Unfortunately, too many of them were discharged from the military based on their sexual orientation – and for many this left them without access to the benefits and services they earned."
The big picture: As of March 2023, a total of 1,406 DADT-related record correction applications have so far been approved by the review boards of the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force.
- On average, those four branches have approved 87% of the applications they received.
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