More than 35,000 LGBTQ veterans who were dismissed due to their sexual orientation under the don’t ask, don’t tell and comparable previous policies may be impacted by the class-action settlement that the Defense Department consented to.
Veterans who were discharged with a less than honorable rating due to their sexual orientation will be entitled for an instant review and an upgrading to an honorable discharge under the terms of the agreement. In just a few months, veterans who were honorably discharged but whose military discharge form (DD-214) indicates that they left the military due to their sexual orientation will be eligible to have that information deleted.
According to court records, the Defense Department estimates that over 35,000 veterans were released between 1980 and 2011 due to actual or perceived homosexuality, homosexual activity, sexual perversion, or any other similar reason; the settlement may have a substantial impact on these soldiers.
Veterans who have a less than honorable military discharge are not eligible for vital benefits including pensions and access to medical treatment through the Veterans Health Administration. Lori Rifkin, the litigation director for Impact Fund, a legal nonprofit that represented LGBTQ veterans in the lawsuit, said that people who were honorably discharged but whose DD-214 indicates they separated from the military due to homosexuality are outed whenever they show their discharge form for benefits or during background checks for jobs.
This has nothing to do with deciding what the policy ought to be. Regarding the payment, Rifkin stated that Congress had previously decided over ten years prior that people had been discriminated against and shouldn’t have been. This is about acknowledging that the government’s discrimination has affected tens of thousands of individuals for years, and it’s about finally correcting that injustice and providing them with the respect and acknowledgment they are due.
A federal judge must still approve the settlement, and the Justice Department chose not to comment. As soon as it is, impacted veterans may start receiving honorable discharge status upgrades as early as the summer, according to Rifkin.
In August 2023, a group of veterans filed a lawsuit, claiming that the 1994–2011 “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and other restrictions still violated their constitutional rights. The Pentagon declared in October that it has proactively evaluated the cases of 851 veterans who were dismissed due to their sexual orientation with less than totally honorable characterizations, more than a year after the veterans filed their lawsuit. Over 800 of those instances were upgraded to honorable by the Pentagon after the study.
But before “don’t ask, don’t tell,” Rifkin added, tens of thousands of veterans were released due to their sexual orientation.
The complainant in the case, Lilly Steffanides, was a Navy veteran who was fired in 1988 due to her sexual orientation. Steffanides, who prefers the pronouns they/them, joined the Navy at the age of 19 in order to serve their nation. They claimed that after missing their ship for over a year and a half of their first tour of duty, their superiors looked through their locker and discovered gay news publications.
According to Steffanides, during an investigation, they were placed in the ship’s brig and given nothing but bread and water for three days. They said that during the eight months they spent aboard the ship before being formally released, they were subjected to physical and sexual harassment by other service members, who frequently used derogatory language against them because they were gay.
A request for comment on Steffanides’ charges was not immediately answered by the Justice Department, which was referred to by the Defense Department for all comment requests.
According to Steffanides, their relatives informed them that they were unable to return home because of their discharge, which was not respectable.
According to Steffanides, I immediately resorted to using drugs, alcohol, and anything else I could to hide the shame I felt from my family and my nation. I eventually found myself homeless and did whatever it took to satisfy my next craving.
Steffanides spent almost twenty-four years without a house. Approximately midway through that period, they were linked to a homeless veterans’ shelter, which they claimed gave them hope. However, they claimed that the organization only offered services to veterans who had been honorably discharged.
They eventually got in touch with a pro bono lawyer who assisted them in requesting a waiver that enables them to obtain benefits like health insurance and a pension. They reside in San Francisco with their spouse and have been sober for about five years. Even though they can now collect benefits, they said they are thrilled with the settlement because it will allow them to regain their own narrative by deleting their sexual orientation from their DD-214.
They stated that’s the root in the back of my mind that tells me I’m a flawed person. Everything that has gone wrong in my life stems from the discharge on my DD-214 for trying to commit, performing, or encouraging someone else to perform a homosexual conduct; to have that discharge removed would be like having my shackles removed. I feel like I’ve spent so much time attached to this rock that declares, “You are a homosexual,” and it has shaped who I am.
Steffanides is currently an ardent advocate for veterans. They volunteer with American Legion, a nonprofit organization dedicated to veterans, and they organize a virtual monthly veterans support group called Do Ask, Do Tell. They said that the mayor of San Francisco had given them an award for their community efforts.
“I’m able to be of service today, but I wish I had gotten to serve longer,” they remarked.
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