Pentagon Reviewing Records Of LGBTQ Veterans Discharged Under 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

The Pentagon said this week that it will begin reviewing the records of LGBTQ veterans who were discharged under “Don't Ask, Don't Tell.”

DADT, approved by President Bill Clinton in 1994, allowed LGBTQ service members to remain in the military as long as they kept their sexual orientation quiet.

According to the Department of Defense, at least 32,837 service members since 1980 were forced out of the military because of their sexual orientation.

President Barack Obama fulfilled a campaign promise when he signed a bill in 2010 that repealed the policy.

CBS reported that fewer than 1,500 service members have had their discharge classification updated. A less than honorable discharge can leave service members unable to access veterans benefits, including home loans, tuition assistance, health care, and even some government jobs.

“For decades, our LGBTQ+ Service members were forced to hide or were prevented from serving altogether,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement released Wednesday. “Even still, they selflessly put themselves in harm's way for the good of our country and the American people. Unfortunately, too many of them were discharged from the military base on their sexual orientation – and for many this left them without access to the benefits and services they earned.”

"Over the past decade, we’ve tried to make it easier for Service members discharged based on their sexual orientation to obtain corrective relief. While this process can be difficult to navigate, we are working to make it more accessible and efficient. In 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,” Austin said.

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said that “correcting these records cannot fully restore the dignity taken from LGBTQ+ service members when they were expelled from the military. It doesn’t completely heal the unseen wounds that were left, it doesn’t make people whole again, even for those many who received honorable discharges. But this is yet another step we’re taking to make sure we do right by those who served honorably.”

Wednesday marked the 12^th anniversary of the repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell.”