820 Gay Veterans Receive Honorable Discharge Upgrades
The upgrades, issued by the Pentagon, apply to veterans who were dismissed from the military service under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
The U.S. Department of Defense upgraded the dismissals of 820 former military service members to “honorable discharges” following a year-long review of their service records.
The upgrades were announced on Oct. 15 by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who said in a statement that the initiative was meant to “redress the harms done by ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and other policies on these former service members.”
Austin noted that 851 cases were proactively reviewed over the past year, and more than 96% of them qualified for “relief.”
“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.”
The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was in effect from Feb. 28, 1994 until Sept. 20, 2011. Under it, gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members had to closet their identities, based on the assumption that their superiors and others wouldn’t “ask” about their sexual orientation, while the service members agreed not to “tell.”
The policy was flawed in practice, with some people involuntarily outed against their will. Regardless, any service members discovered not to be heterosexual — about 13,500 in total — were ultimately discharged from the military as a result of the policy, according to a news release from the Defense Department.
Even though the majority of service members were honorably discharged, nearly 2,000 received less than fully honorable discharges.
After “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was repealed by Congress, those less than honorably discharged under it were eligible to appeal for an upgrade with the Military Department Review Boards. About 85% received some form of relief, but others affected by the change were unaware they could request to have their discharge status upgraded.
Last year, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks initiated a proactive review of LGBTQ veterans who were dismissed under the policy but had not yet applied for an upgrade.
As a result, veterans who were separated from the Armed Services under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will have their discharge papers — known as a DD-214 — changed to “honorable” without having to go through a formal process of applying for a discharge upgrade.
Those members who receive upgrades will be eligible for benefits that they had previously been denied due to their discharge status, including health care benefits, college tuition assistance, VA loan programs, and even some employment opportunities.
The Department of Defense is sending information to those having their status upgraded on how to obtain copies of their new certification. However, because DD-214s contain sensitive personal information, former service members must request copies individually, according to the Military Times.
The Pentagon’s review does not apply to service members discharged for suspected homosexuality in the decades prior to the implementation of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” when gay, lesbian, and bisexual people were barred from serving altogether.
Those veterans are often the ones who have been most harmed by their less-than-honorable discharge statuses.
In a separate effort announced in June, President Joe Biden sought to remedy that by issuing pardons to thousands of former service members who were convicted of violating a now-repealed military regulation that criminalized sodomy and consensual same-sex relations.
Many of those people who were court-martialed and convicted can now request and receive proof that their conviction has been erased, and can subsequently petition to have their discharge statuses upgraded.
The Pentagon will not continue its review of cases beyond the 820 veterans receiving discharge status upgrades — meaning that others will have to submit an application to request a change on their own.
“We encourage all veterans who believe they have suffered an error or injustice to request a correction to their military records,” a Pentagon official told CBS News.
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