The Pentagon is launching a new outreach campaign to help LGBTQ service members who feel they âsuffered an error or injusticeâ before the repeal of the âdonât ask, donât tellâ policy to correct their military records.
âFor decades, our LGBTQ2S+ service members were forced to hide or were prevented from serving altogether,â Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement on Wednesday. âEven still, they selflessly put themselves in harmâs way for the good of our country and the American people. Unfortunately, too many of them were discharged from the military based on their sexual orientation â and for many this left them without access to the benefits and services they earned.â
âIn the coming weeks, we will be initiating new outreach campaigns to encourage all service members and veterans who believe they have suffered an error or injustice to seek correction to their military records,â Austin added.
Congress repealed the militaryâs the policy, which prohibited openly gay, lesbian or bisexual people from serving in the armed forces, in September 2011.
According to Pentagon data, more than 13,000 people were separated from the military under the departmentâs âhomosexual conductâ policy from 1994 to 2011 under varying conditions â including honourable, general, other than honourable, and unknown.
CBS was first to report the news.
Deputy Defence Secretary Kathleen Hicks said Wednesday that service members âwere given discharges that may have denied them access to veteransâ benefits like home loans, healthcare, GI Bill tuition assistance, and even some government jobs.â
âAs the Secretary notes, decades of laws and policies that forced service members to hide who they are left a long and cruel legacy. Not just in terms of the individual traumas wrought upon service members and family members, but also as tens of thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines were expelled from the military,â Hicks said.
A defence official told reporters on Wednesday that the department will also conduct a âproactive reviewâ to potentially upgrade other than honourable discharges for service members separated from the military in the era the policy operated, from 1994 to 2011.
Personnel will identify veteransâ records who show their separation was due to their sexual orientation and who received a discharge âthat was less than honourable.â A panel will then determine if those records need upgrading, and send the individualsâ names to the service secretaries âfor consideration and potential correction,â the official said.
That proactive review has not yet started, they said, and will begin when the Defence Department is âassured that everybody has the proper training and that weâre doing this in the right way.â
The defence official added that currently there are roughly 2,000 individuals who were discharged under the policy for their sexual orientation but received a less than honourable discharge.
âIn the widest possible margin, thatâs who weâre going to be proactively looking at,â the official said. âObviously there may be â and weâre hopeful that there will be â additional people who see this information and come forward and apply to the discharge review boards.â
The official emphasized that officials will âproceed cautiouslyâ in contacting veterans over their discharges to avoid any privacy concerns with personal information.
The Departmentâs outreach campaign will be âonline, by e-mail, by mail, through nonprofits and veteransâ service organizations, and more,â Hicks said Wednesday, but added that they know restoring veteransâ records âcannot fully restore the dignity taken from LGBTQ2S+ service members when they were expelled from the military.â
âBut this is yet another step weâre taking to make sure we do right by those who served honorably, despite being forced to hide who they are and who they love, while serving the country they love,â she said. âEven if the Department didnât see it then, we see it now. We see you now. We value your service, and weâre grateful.â