Watch: Gay Veterans File Suit Over Discriminatory Dishonorable Discharges
Veterans who were thrown out of the military for being LGBTQ+ have filed suit to have their dishonorable discharges reversed, giving them access to benefits currently denied to them, according to NBC News.
"In a class action lawsuit filed Tuesday [Aug. 8] in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the plaintiffs are asking for the department to grant them honorable discharges so they can access all veteran benefits, including health care, college tuition assistance and loan programs," NBC News detailed.
"They are also requesting that language be removed from their discharge documents that notes their sexualities, arguing that the documents — which the plaintiffs say must be provided to access some veterans' benefits — violate their privacy," the report added.
NBC News noted that not all the plaintiffs were tossed out of the military under "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT); "others were discharged due to previous laws that barred gays and lesbians from military service, according to a statement from the plaintiffs' lawyers."
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was a policy enacted during the Clinton administration. Wikipedia recalls that the policy, issued near the end of 1993 and coming into effect in early 1994, officially forbade openly LGBTQ+ people from serving in the military. If sexual minorities kept quiet and avoided "homosexual behavior," they would, in theory, be allowed to serve, but if they proclaimed their authentic sexuality or gave indications of being LGBTQ+ through their conduct, they could be investigated and dishonorably discharged.
With the end of "DADT" in 2011, LGBTQ+ servicemembers were able to serve openly, though a ban on open service by transgender individuals was imposed during the Trump administration. That ban lasted from 2017 until 2021, when it was reversed by President Joe Biden's administration.
An estimated 14,000 servicemembers were tossed out of the military under DADT, Military.com noted, adding that "veterans have described lasting harm from the policy more than a decade later."
The military news site added, "Estimates vary for how many troops were discharged under both 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and predecessor bans. But Defense Department data obtained by Legal Aid at Work through a Freedom of Information Act request found that more than 35,000 troops were discharged between 1980 and 2011 because of 'real or perceived homosexuality, homosexual conduct, sexual perversion or any other related reason,' with more than 29,000 receiving less-than-honorable discharges, according to the lawsuit."
The "lawsuit notes that there is an existing application process by which veterans can request changes to the status of their discharge, but the suit argues the process is 'complicated and intimidating,'" NBC News relayed.
Moreover, discharge papers that show a veteran's sexual orientation have the effect of outing LGBTQ+ veterans. Jocelyn Larkin, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers, told CBS News, "This case is not about damages. This case is about simply changing that piece of paper because the effect of changing that piece of paper is so incredibly consequential for our clients."
CBS News quoted from the suit, which contends that "Requiring LGBTQ+ veterans to first bear the stigma and discriminatory effects of carrying indicators of sexual orientation on their [discharge papers] and then navigate a broken record correction process to seek resolution violates their constitutional rights to equal protection, informational privacy, property, and due process protected by the Fourteenth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution."
"Democratic members of the House and the Senate introduced separate measures in 2021, urging the government to apologize for the mistreatment of LGBTQ service members," NBC News said.
"Our government and leaders have long acknowledged that the military's discrimination against LGBTQ+ service members — and what was done to me — was wrong," NBC News quoted one of the plaintiffs, Steven Egland — who served in the Army — as stating.
"The time has come to rectify it by correcting our records. All of those who served deserve to have documents that reflect the honor in our service."
To watch the CBS News report, follow this link.