Veterans Discharged Under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Now Eligible For Benefits

ABC News: LGBTQ Veterans Discharged Dishonorably For Sexual Orientation To Get Full Benefits, VA Says 
LGBTQ veterans who were given other than honorable discharges from the U.S. military due to their sexual orientation are eligible to receive full benefits, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced on Monday. "LGBTQ+ Veterans are not any less worthy of the care and services that all Veterans earn through their service, and VA is committed to making sure that they have equal access to those services," the department said in a statement. (Zaru, 9/20)

CBS News: LGBTQ Veterans Discharged For Their Gender Identity Or Sexual Orientation To Receive VA Benefits 
For years, LGBTQ military members were only allowed to serve so long as nobody openly acknowledged their sexual orientation or gender identity. On Monday, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that those service members who received other than honorable discharges for their sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status are eligible for full benefits. The announcement was made on the 10th anniversary of the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which had been put into place in February 1994 by former President Bill Clinton. It is estimated that nearly 14,000 gay and lesbian service members were discharged from the military in the 18 years the policy was in place, according to the Center for American Progress. (Cohen, 9/21)

Stars and Stripes: Discharged LGBTQ Veterans Now Eligible For Benefits Under New Guidance Issued By VA 
VA Secretary Denis McDonough issued the new guidance to VA adjudicators Monday. “Although VA recognizes that the trauma caused by the military’s decades-long policy of discrimination against LGBTQ+ people cannot be undone in a few short months, the Biden administration and Secretary McDonough are taking the steps necessary to begin addressing the pain that such policies have created,” Williams said. The announcement was made as part of the 10th anniversary of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which barred openly gay, lesbian or bisexual individuals from serving in the military. The policy was enacted under former President Bill Clinton’s administration in 1993, and it was repealed by former President Barack Obama on Sept. 20, 2011. (Wentling, 9/20)

CNN: VA Tells Veterans Discharged Under 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' They Are Eligible For All VA Benefits 
"More than 100,000 American service members have been discharged because of their sexual orientation or gender identity -- including more than 14,000 under Don't Ask Don't Tell," President Joe Biden said in a statement released Monday about the 10 year anniversary of the repeal of the policy. "Many of these veterans received what are known as 'other than honorable' discharges, excluding them and their families from the vitally important services and benefits they had sacrificed so much to earn," Biden said in the statement. Biden said in the statement that he believes the repeal of the policy "helped move our nation closer to its foundational promise of equality, dignity, and opportunity for all." (Kaufman, 9/20)

Military.Com: 10 Years After Don't Ask, Don't Tell Was Repealed, The Military Reckons With Past Discrimination 
Iraq War veteran Shon Washington spent his career wracked by paranoia, sneaking to places far from his duty station to date men in the hopes that his fellow service members wouldn't see him. Two other gay men with whom he served were discovered and swiftly kicked out of the military. Washington, whose service ran from 2004 to 2011, struggled with his own sexuality for a long time, dating a long-term girlfriend he considered proposing to throughout his initial year in the Navy. (Kime and Beynon, 9/20)