According to CBS News, the Pentagon has reached a historic legal settlement with over 35,000 gay and lesbian military veterans who were dismissed because of their sexual orientation and, in many cases, denied an honorable discharge and the benefits they had earned.
Under the terms of the agreement, veterans whose discharge papers list their sexual orientation as a reason for leaving the military can now avoid a time-consuming legal process and be re-issued paperwork that removes any mention of their sexuality.
If they are denied an honorable discharge, they will be eligible for an immediate upgrade review, according to the agreement.
“When I was discharged because of my sexual orientation, I felt that my country was telling me that my service was not valuable – that I was ‘less than’ because of who I loved,” said Sherrill Farrell, a US Navy veteran and plaintiff in the case.
“Today, I am once again proud to have served my country by standing up for veterans like myself, and ensuring our honor is recognized.”
The settlement, which still needs to be approved by a federal judge, would resolve the claims of LGBTQ+ veterans who were kicked out of the military years ago due to their sexual orientation.
In August 2023, the veterans filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Defense Department for failing to grant them honorable discharges or remove biased language specifying their sexuality from their service records after the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in 2011.
The class action lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that the Pentagon’s failure to address “ongoing discrimination” violates constitutional rights.
It has been more than a decade since the military lifted its longstanding ban on openly gay and lesbian soldiers. However, thousands of those discharged under past discriminatory policies such as “don’t ask, don’t tell” still have less-than-honorable discharges today, depriving them of a full range of benefits such as VA loan programs, college tuition assistance, health care, and certain jobs.
A CBS News investigation has revealed the Pentagon’s long-standing failure to restore honor to the service records of thousands of veterans who were denied veterans benefits after their military careers were terminated.
A series of reports examined how these veterans’ often traumatic separation from the military influenced the course of their lives.
The settlement would create a streamlined process for LGBTQ+ veterans who were discharged honorably but whose dismissal was due to their sexual orientation, allowing them to be reissued papers that make no mention of it.
And for those who were denied an honorable discharge, the Pentagon promised to streamline the upgrade review process.
“This proposed settlement delivers long-overdue justice to LGBTQ+ veterans who served our country with honor but were stripped of the dignity and recognition they rightfully earned due to discriminatory discharge policies,” said Elizabeth Kristen, a senior staff attorney with Legal Aid at Work, which assisted in filing the suit.
“It marks a crucial step in addressing this deep-seated injustice and ensuring these veterans receive the acknowledgment and respect they have long been denied.”
In the last year, the Pentagon has made a number of pledges to make amends for the injustices done to gay and lesbian service members. When asked about the proposed settlement on Monday, both the Pentagon and the Department of Justice declined to comment.
When the civil rights lawsuit was filed, a Pentagon spokesman stated that the military had attempted to streamline the upgrade process to a short, two-page application.
The department stated that legal representation was no longer required to apply for a discharge review, and that discharge review boards “continue to strive to finalize 90% of all cases within 10 months, as required by statute.”
However, the lawsuit, prepared by the Impact Fund, Legal Aid at Work, and the law firms King & Spalding LLP and Haynes & Boone LLP, called that a “constitutionally inadequate” response, claiming that it put the burden on individual veterans to spend months or years obtaining old personnel records before they could file their applications.
They claimed that these reviews would take months or years to process.
The lawsuit did not seek monetary damages, but the settlement allows the court to approve the Pentagon’s $350,000 payment to cover the plaintiffs’ legal fees.
“This case is not about damages,” Jocelyn Larkin, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, stated at the time of filing. “This case is about simply changing that piece of paper because the effect of changing that piece of paper is so incredibly consequential for our clients.”
While the full extent of past discrimination against gay and lesbian service members is unknown, Larkin believes the lawsuit will benefit at least 35,000 veterans identified by a Defense Department Freedom of Information Act request, as reported by CBS News in June 2023.
The true figure could be much higher. According to the Pentagon’s most recent data, only 1,375 veterans have received discharge upgrades or corrections to their records.
