Over 29,000 LGBTQ troops denied honorable discharges, new figures show extent of military discrimination

New figures obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by Legal Aid at Work have revealed that over 29,000 service members were denied honourable discharges due to their sexuality, between 1980 and 2011. The data covers the period before and during the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, when gay and lesbian people were prohibited from serving in the US military. Of 35,801 individuals discharged for “real or perceived homosexuality” or “any other related reason” during the period, 81% were denied honourable discharges. The data was released following a six-month CBS News investigation into the impact of discharge status on LGBTQ veterans.

Despite estimates that around 14,000 service members were released under “don’t ask, don’t tell”, the military has never before provided details of how many individuals were denied honourable discharges. The Department of Defense provided CBS News with contradictory figures when asked about the new data. Officials from the Defense Department’s Office of Legal Policy suggested that most service members released due to homosexuality between 1970 and 2011 received honourable discharges. However, the Department then provided a partial breakdown of the data, revealing that 23,392 received honourable discharges, 11,023 received general discharges under honourable conditions and 5,374 received uncharacterised discharges.

Currently, only 1,375 of those discharged due to their sexuality have been granted relief in the form of a discharge upgrade or correction to their record. David Stacy, the government affairs vice president for LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, described the figures as “sobering” and called on the Pentagon to re-examine its discharge upgrade process. Elizabeth Kristen, the director of Legal Aid At Work’s Gender Equity & LGBTQ Rights Program, stated that the data “confirms the magnitude of the discrimination and injustice suffered by so many service members who joined our Armed Forces with the hope of honorably serving our country”.

The impact of discharge status on LGBTQ veterans has been highlighted by CBS News. Those whose status is less than honourable may be denied access to full benefits, including healthcare, VA loan programmes, tuition assistance and some jobs. The US military has not sought to identify and revisit cases where service members were convicted of crimes and given felony records for same-sex relationships. Additionally, while some military laws directly criminalised homosexual activity, other statutes were used as cover charges to force gay and lesbian service members out of the military. It is therefore possible that the figures released by the Department of Defense may only represent a fraction of the true number of people affected.

Original Story at www.cbsnews.com – 2023-06-21 10:00:05