VA to Provide Services to Veterans With ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Discharges
The 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,” she continued, but the Biden administration and Secretary McDonough are “taking the steps necessary to begin addressing the pain that such policies have created.”
President Biden, in his remarks, noted that as a US Senator, he had supported allowing service members to serve openly and, as Vice President, championed the repeal. He said, “I am honored to be Commander-in-Chief of the strongest and most inclusive military in our nation’s history. Today, our military doesn’t just welcome LGBTQ+ service members—it is led at the highest levels by brave LGBTQ+ veterans, including Under Secretary of the Air Force Gina Ortiz Jones and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness Shawn Skelly, who served under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. I was gratified to appoint the first openly gay Senate-confirmed Cabinet member, Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve and Afghanistan veteran who joined the military under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. And during my first week in office, I proudly delivered on my pledge to repeal the discriminatory ban on open service by patriotic transgender service members.”
In early September, Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee and Co-Chair of the Equality Caucus, reintroduced the SERVE (Securing the Rights our Veterans Earned) Act. The act, which is co-sponsored by Reps. Mike Levin (D-CA), Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Anthony Brown (D-MD), and Jackie Speier (D-CA), would ensure LGBTQ+ veterans who received an OTH or Entry-Level Separation discharge solely due to sexual orientation or gender identity are afforded the VA benefits they rightfully earned, including access to VA healthcare, and education, burial and memorial services, and home loans. The act includes veterans who were issued “blue discharges” during World War II and veterans discharged under former President Trump’s ban on transgender service members. The legislation has been endorsed by the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus and is supported by more than 45 representatives.
There are processes for those veterans through which they can have their discharge papers and separation statuses reviewed and modified, Pappas said in a release, but “it can take months for the changes to take effect, and many of these veterans do not even realize they are eligible.”
Earlier this year, Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough made it a priority to ensure that LGBTQ+ veterans have the same level of access to VA care and services that all other veterans have. Among other things, he established a task force to examine how VA policies hinder or prohibit access to care and services and remove barriers that transgender veterans face in accessing gender-affirming care.
The VA is also taking steps, Williams noted, to clarify VA policy for veterans who were given OTH discharges based on homosexual conduct, gender identity or HIV status. Under this newly issued guidance, VA adjudicators shall find that all discharged service members whose separation was due to sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status are considered “Veterans” who may be eligible for VA benefits, like VR&E, home loan guaranty, compensation and pension, health care, homeless program and/or burial benefits, so long as the record does not implicate a statutory or regulatory bar to benefits.
The policy statement does not represent a change in law, as veterans who were discharged under DADT alone have been generally eligible for benefits under current statute and regulation. However, it reiterates what constitutes eligibility for benefits under law. In addition, every Character of Discharge case that is initially considered for denial will also get a second look before that action is taken.
“Given that large numbers of LGBTQ+ veterans who were affected by previous homophobic and transphobic policies have not applied for a discharge upgrade due to the perception that the process could be onerous,” Williams wrote, “we are hopeful that this policy statement encourages more of them to contact VA to determine their eligibility for care and services.”
Today, according to the Human Right Campaign, nearly 6.1% of US military personnel self-identify as LGBTQ. Williams, herself a bisexual veteran, said she chose to present as straight during the push to repeal DADT. “I could talk credibly about how the lack of sufficient Arabic linguists harmed our effectiveness downrange, and my own identity seemed irrelevant. It took many years for me to shed the toxic legacy of having served under DADT and come back out of the closet; I’m proud to recognize this anniversary as my authentic self.”
