Gay veterans still seek honorary discharges after being booted from the military under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

Soldiers of the California National Guard, alongside their fellow service members and veterans from all branches, participated in the 2019 San Diego Gay Pride Parade, July 13, 2019 as part of the San Diego Pride Military Contingent.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Eleven years after Barack Obama did away with the U.S. military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, thousands of vets kicked out under the rule are still “dishonorably” discharged.

The Department of Defense directive, negotiated by President Bill Clinton in 1993 and instituted the following year, prohibited individuals who “demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts” from serving in the U.S. armed forces, while barring the military from discriminating against or harassing closeted service members or applicants.

The policy was as unwieldy and unenforceable as it sounds.

Over 14,000 service members were booted from the U.S. armed forces during the 18 years the policy was on the books. Those discharges deprived gay vets of the same benefits honorably discharged personnel receive, including healthcare, college tuition, VA loans and jobs in both the government and private sector.

Navy vet Amy Lambre told CBS News her discharge and the deprivation of benefits left her feeling “less than honorable.”

“It’s a dark place,” she said.

When the Obama Administration allowed openly gay applicants and current members to serve in the U.S. military in 2011, those previously discharged…

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