Pentagon pushes ‘don’t ask/don’t tell’ veterans to correct service records
The Pentagon will ramp up efforts to identify service members discharged because of their sexual orientation during the “don’t ask/don’t tell” era, with the goal of helping them correct their military records, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday.
Mr. Austin said that troops who were discharged because of their sexual orientation during that 17-year period — which began under President Clinton in 1994 and lasted until 2011, when the policy was repealed by President Obama — may not have access to health benefits and other services they deserve.
The “don’t ask/don’t tell” policy barred openly LGBTQ individuals from serving in the armed forces and directed those men and women to not disclose their sexual orientation. Those who did disclose it were sometimes discharged from the military under other than honorable conditions, which in some cases has limited their access to a host of programs available to veterans.
“For decades, our LGBTQ+ service members were forced to hide or were prevented from serving altogether,” Mr. Austin said in a statement Wednesday.
“Even still, they selflessly put themselves in harm’s way for the good of our country and the American people,” he added. “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.”
“Over the past decade, we’ve tried to make it easier for service members discharged based on their sexual orientation to obtain corrective relief,” he said. “While this process can be difficult to navigate, we are working to make it more accessible and efficient.”
The Defense Department said it will provide new resources for veterans who may have been affected by the policy, including service statistics on review board discharge applications approved or denied; statistics on types of discharges, including honorable and general under honorable conditions; the appeal process for upgrading discharge type; and other information.
“Don’t ask/don’t tell” was implemented on Feb. 28, 1994, though the issue of less-than-honorable discharges due to sexual orientation dates back long before that. A CBS News investigation earlier this year found that more than 35,000 service members “received a discharge or separation because of real or perceived homosexuality, homosexual conduct, sexual perversion, or any other related reason” from 1980 to 2011, when the policy was repealed.
