Milary veterans kicked out for beg gay still fightg for honorable discharg - WTOP News

Contents:

• OTED AS GAY, AGG VETERANS ARE BATTLG AGA FOR HONORABLE DISCHARG
• MILARY VETERANS KICKED OUT FOR BEG GAY STILL FIGHTG FOR HONORABLE DISCHARG
• DAV-FUND PROGRAM HELPS VETERAN DISCHARGED FOR BEG GAY
• "COMG OUT UNR FIRE": THE STORY OF GAY AND LBIAN SERVICEMEMBERS
• GAY VETERAN GETS HONORABLE DISCHARGE SIX DES AFTER GETTG KICKED OUT OF ARMY
• RISHI SUNAK APOLOGIS TO LGBT VETERANS FOR PAST ARMED FORC GAY BAN
• STAT MAKE EASIER FOR VETS WHO WERE KICKED OUT FOR BEG GAY TO ACCS BENEFS
• THE U.S. NAVY HAS CHRISTENED A SHIP NAMED AFTER SLA GAY RIGHTS LEAR HARVEY MILK
• AIR FORCE VETERAN ONCE IMPRISONED FOR BEG GAY STILL ENDUR THE STIGMA OF A FELONY RERD
• I WAS KICKED OUT OF THE MILARY FOR BEG GAYI WAS KICKED OUT OF THE MILARY FOR BEG GAY
• RERDS OF GAY ARY SACKGS LETED BY MISTRY OF DEFENCE
• GAYS THE MILARY
• AIR FORCE HONORS GAY RIGHTS IN THE SERVICE KICKED OUT 1975
• HOW A CLOSETED AIR FORCE SERGEANT BEME THE FACE OF GAY RIGHTS

OTED AS GAY, AGG VETERANS ARE BATTLG AGA FOR HONORABLE DISCHARG

Ary due to their sexual orientatn, cludg an timated 14, 000 service members who were discharged unr "don't ask, don't tell, " durg the 17 years that was effect, acrdg to the rights activists and gay veterans, cludg former Army Litenant Dan Choi (4th L) and former Mare Corporal Evelyn Thomas (5th L), handcuff themselv to the fence of the Whe Hoe durg a prott Nov. "Given that large numbers of LGBTQ+ Veterans who were affected by prev homophobic and transphobic polici have not applied for a discharge upgra due to the perceptn that the procs uld be onero, we are hopeful that this policy statement enurag more of them to ntact VA to terme their eligibily for re and servic, " acrdg to a VA statement. The print directed that an executive orr reversg the ban on homosexuals the ary be prepared by July Edmonds/AP, FILE"Don't ask, don't tell, " was signed to law 1993 unr the admistratn of Print Bill Clton, who ially sought to end a World War II-era ban on homosexuals servg the backlash om some ary lears and members of Congrs, Clton managed to get support for an apparent promise, which would allow LGBTQ dividuals to serve the ary if they did not disclose their sexual his first term office, Print Barack Obama voiced his support for repealg the law.

READ MORE: The Supreme Court Rulgs That Have Shaped Gay Rights Ameri‘Scientific’ Attempts to Intify HomosexualsIn their effort to screen out queer nscripts, ary officials ran to a problem: They didn’t have a nclive way of intifyg them, beyond a set of subjectively terpreted “signs” such as “feme bodily characteristics” and “effemacy drs and manner, ” acrdg to Allan Bébé, thor of Comg Out Unr Fire: Gay Men and Women Durg World War II.

Sce the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, ” veterans’ benefs for which lbian, gay and bisexual service members may signate beneficiari of their choosg irrpective of sexual orientatn clu: Veterans’ Group Life Insurance, Service Members Group Life Insurance, Montgomery GI Bill, and prentatn of the flag of the Uned Stat. Ary agast gay and lbian service members, revealg that more than 29, 000 dividuals kicked out bee of their sexualy were nied honorable have long been timat suggtg about 14, 000 service members were separated om the ary unr "don't ask, don't tell, " the policy that banned gay men and women om servg openly om 1994 to 2011, but the ary has never before shared a tailed breakdown of how many dividuals were nied honorable discharg durg and before "don't ask, don't tell, " when gays and lbians were prohibed om servg at all.

MILARY VETERANS KICKED OUT FOR BEG GAY STILL FIGHTG FOR HONORABLE DISCHARG

The new data, which the nonprof legal servic anizatn Legal Aid At Work obtaed through a Freedom of Informatn Act requt and shared wh CBS News, vers the three s om 1980 until the feral urts lifted the ban agast gay and lbian soldiers, sailors and airmen 2010. When CBS News reached out to the Defense Department about the new figur, officials there produced different numbers om s Office of Legal Policy ditg most service members separated on the basis of homosexual nduct om 1970 to 2011 were discharged unr honorable ndns.

"At VA, we ntuoly work not only to meet the needs of LGBTQ+ Veterans, but also to addrs ongog issu that LGBTQ+ Veterans face as a rult of the ary's s-long official policy of homophobia and transphobia, " Kayla Williams, the assistant secretary for public affairs for the VA wrote, a blog post of the announcement. Donald Hallman 1955 for beg what lled a “Class II homosexual, ” the 21-year-old was so sred of beg an outst that he burned all his ary rerds, save for a sgle dog tag he hid Hallman, a al mer’s son who sang a church choir ral Alabama, says he never mentned his ary service aga.

”He is one of a steady march of olr veterans who were kicked out of the ary s ago for beg gay, and who are now askg that their ls-than-honorable discharg be some timat, as many as 100, 000 service members were discharged for beg gay between World War II and the 2011 repeal of the ary’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Many were given ls-than-honorable discharg that beme official srlet letters — barrg them om veterans’ benefs, stg them ernment jobs and other employment, and leavg many grapplg wh shame for, embolned by the gay soldiers servg openly the ary and the same-sex upl fdg broad acceptance civilian life, they are creasgly seekg Spear for The New York Tim“After all the years, I want to tie up loose ends, ” said Jim Estep, 80, a retired profsor Buffalo, who was given a ls-than-honorable discharge 1964. ”A bill Congrs, known as the Rtore Honor to Service Members Act, would grant blanket upgras to nearly all veteran discharged for beg gay, but has been stalled Congrs sce 2013, and backers say has ltle chance of movg forward this the 1970s and 1980s, upgradg service rerds was the battleground of gay activists.

DAV-FUND PROGRAM HELPS VETERAN DISCHARGED FOR BEG GAY

Gee Washgton personally orred that a young officer be “dismiss’d wh Infamy” and lerally dmmed out of Valley Fe, pursued by a fife and dm Spear for The New York TimStartg World War II, the ary treated homosexualy as a mental fect rather than a crime, but still purged gays wh quick discharg.

" But even the VA has acknowledged that veterans have been terred om this procs, wrg a September 2021 blog post that "large numbers of LGBTQ+ Veterans who were affected by prev homophobic and transphobic polici have not applied for a discharge upgra due to the perceptn that the procs uld be onero.

They were both gay, and were watchg the Senate vote to repeal the long-held policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell, ” which had prohibed the ary om discrimatg agast LGBTQ service members — as long as they did not openly disclose their sexual repeal passed, 65-31. Veterans Day:See how Oklahoma anizatns and bs are observg the holidayAdopted durg the 1990s, “Don’t ask, don’t tell, ” often short-hand as DADT, allowed for discrimatn agast lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer service members if their behavr differed om heterosexual norms. After the DADT repeal, the Department of Veteran Affairs began mandatg medilly necsary re for gay and transgenr veterans, such as hormone therapy and mental health recently, Print Joe Bin announced September that the VA would start providg benefs for LGBTQ troops who had received other-than-honorable discharg before and durg the implementatn of announcement was a praiseworthy change, acrdg to Dr.

"COMG OUT UNR FIRE": THE STORY OF GAY AND LBIAN SERVICEMEMBERS

“Given that large numbers of LGBTQ+ veterans who were affected by prev homophobic and transphobic polici have not applied for a discharge upgra due to the perceptn that the procs uld be onero, we are hopeful that this policy statement enurag more of them to ntact VA to terme their eligibily for re and servic, ” she said. ” But even the VA has acknowledged that veterans have been terred om this procs, wrg a September 2021 blog post that “large numbers of LGBTQ+ Veterans who were affected by prev homophobic and transphobic polici have not applied for a discharge upgra due to the perceptn that the procs uld be onero. “No longer will our untry be nied the service of thoands of patrtic Amerins who were forced to leave the ary – regardls of their skills, no matter their bravery or their zeal, no matter their years of exemplary performance – bee they happen to be gay, ” said former Print Barack Obama.

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTApril 7, 1998See the article s origal ntext om April 7, 1998, Sectn A, Page 23Buy ReprtsTimMache is an exclive benef for home livery and digal ary is dischargg 67 percent more gay and lbian troops today than when the Clton Admistratn adopted s ''don't ask, don't tell'' policy, acrdg to a Defense Department report to be issued later this month.

GAY VETERAN GETS HONORABLE DISCHARGE SIX DES AFTER GETTG KICKED OUT OF ARMY

A total of 997 ary personnel were discharged for homosexualy last year, the report says, pared wh 597 1994, the first full year that the policy was rights advot see those figur as evince for their ntentn that homosexuals are beg outed and oted ever-larger numbers. They say gay and lbian personnel are still subject to terrogatn and harassment by Pentagon officials say they thk the crease discharg may be due to voluntary claratns of homosexualy -- which the policy forbids -- by men and women who want out of the ary, although the officials acknowledge that nearly five years after the policy's adoptn, some manrs still do not seem to unrstand policy -- more fully, ''don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue'' -- was tend to allow homosexuals to serve the armed forc, while protectg not only troops' privacy but also the morale that the ary says would be promised by avowed homosexualy the , recers are forbidn to ask prospective enliste about their sexual orientatn, gay and lbian troops are forbidn to disclose their homosexualy, and manrs are forbidn to pursue vtigatns of spected homosexual nduct the absence of pellg evince. Image source, Emma RileyImage ptn, Rad operator Emma Riley was discharged om the Navy for beg a lbian the 1990sRishi Sunak has apologised for the historil treatment of LGBT veterans who were sacked or forced out of the ary for beg PM lled the ban an "appallg failure" of the Brish was illegal to be gay the Brish ary until 2000 - wh thoands of veterans thought to be affected.

It heard shockg acunts of homophobia, bullyg, blackmail, sexual asslts, "disgraceful" medil examatns, and nversn mak 49 remendatns to the ernment cludg:Affected veterans to be given an "appropriate fancial reward" pped at £50m overallThe rtoratn of medals that had to be hand back on dismissal or dischargeThe clarifitn of pensn rights The prentatn of a special veterans' badgeThe ernment said would rpond full after summer of the veterans affected watched the PM's public of them, Emma Riley, 51, was a Royal Navy rad operator for three years before she was arrted and discharged for beg a lbian after tellg a lleague her sexualy the early told BBC News she weled the report, and hoped would be put to place "swiftly. "Olympian Dame Kelly Holm, who served the army and me out as gay last year, lled the publitn of the report a "historic moment", while Cathere Dixon, a former army officer who is now vice chair at Stonewall, said was "an important step towards jtice" for those whose ary reers were "ed" bee of their sexualy.

RISHI SUNAK APOLOGIS TO LGBT VETERANS FOR PAST ARMED FORC GAY BAN

Many still have a crimal rerd to this also tails how some veterans faced a plete loss of e, while others were emed eligible to claim their pensn bee of their report more than 20 years after four servicemen and women, who were sacked for beg gay, won a se the European Court of Human Rights and overturned the armed forc chary Royal Brish Legn lled on the ernment to accept the report's remendatns chary's director general Charl Byrne weled both the report and Mr Sunak's "landmark apology", sayg many people who had dited their liv to the untry were "forced or felt prsured to leave the armed forc, and this mistreatment stroyed or shortened their reer". Her discharge om the ary over her homosexualy had turned her to an Tob/The New York Public LibraryPublished July 19, 2023Updated July 23, 2023Lilli Vcenz, who beme a gay rights activist the hhed, reprsive era before the Stonewall rebelln of 1969, when such a ncept srcely existed, makg a mark as a newspaper edor, documentary filmmaker and psychotherapist voted to L.

STAT MAKE EASIER FOR VETS WHO WERE KICKED OUT FOR BEG GAY TO ACCS BENEFS

Vicenz beme, by most acunts, the first lbian to picket the Whe Hoe support of equal rights for gay people as a member of the Mattache Society of Washgton, an early gay rights prott — the first of s kd, acrdg to the Library of Congrs — and others that followed were small but brought visibily to a movement s fancy.

THE U.S. NAVY HAS CHRISTENED A SHIP NAMED AFTER SLA GAY RIGHTS LEAR HARVEY MILK

Vcenz beme the first out lbian to appear on the ver of a natnal gay magaze, The Ladr, a publitn produced by the untry’s first lbian-rights group, the Dghters of Bilis, acrdg to a retrospective on her life and reer by Lillian Farman, a historian of lbian and gay her scbbed, all-Amerin looks, Dr. Vcenz looked like “every mother’s dream dghter, ” as Barbara Gtgs, The Ladr’s edor, put Vcenz also ntributed to the e on the other si of a mera, makg two 16-limeter films that were later hailed as signifint artifacts of the early gay rights first, tled “The Send-Largt Mory, ” documents a Mattache Society prott ont of Inpennce Hall Philalphia on July 4, morn ey, the black-and-whe film, roughly seven mut, seems anythg but seismic. Bra lifted the ban only after the European Court of Human Rights rejected an argument that was need to protect morale and fightg power amongst s troops, sayg the policy had vlated human to that, many gay people had sought to hi their sexualy or risk beg discharged om the armed pennt review was lnched last year to exame the ttimoni of LGBT veterans who served between 1967 and 2000 to regnise the impact of the polici.

“From a personal pot of view, the ban affected me terms of who I was and what I uldn’t be for 34 years, ” Holm ban on homosexualy was abandoned 2000, when the European Court of Human Rights led favor of four service personnel who were vtigated and then discharged bee of their sexualy. "Don't ask, don't tell, " was signed to law 1993 unr the admistratn of Print Bill Clton, who ially sought to end a World War II-era ban on homosexuals servg the backlash om some ary lears and members of Congrs, Clton managed to get support for an apparent promise, which would allow LGBTQ dividuals to serve the ary if they did not disclose their sexual his first term office, Print Barack Obama voiced his support for repealg the law. More than 100, 000 service members were expelled om the ary between World War II and the 2011 repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, ” the policy that barred gays and lbians om servg openly the ary, bee of their actual or perceived sexual orientatn, acrdg to a 2020 report om Harvard Law School.

AIR FORCE VETERAN ONCE IMPRISONED FOR BEG GAY STILL ENDUR THE STIGMA OF A FELONY RERD

’”Even those who left the ary wh an honorable discharge say they mourn the loss of what they had expected would be a lifelong Garland, a former airman who was vtigated for homosexualy the year before “don’t ask” took effect, said he has felt acute pa as the men he served wh beg to retire wh full benefs and e. “From a personal pot of view, the ban affected me terms of who I was and what I uldn’t be for 34 years, " Holm ban on homosexualy was abandoned 2000, when the European Court of Human Rights led favor of four service personnel who were vtigated and then discharged bee of their sexualy. Ameri’s alli, cludg the Uned Kgdom, Canada, Israel, and Atralia, allow openly gay, lbian, and bisexual persons to serve the ary, and this has no adverse effect on ary reads or disciple (Belk, 2001, 2003; Belk & Bateman, 2003; Belk & Levt, 2001; Belk & McNichol, 2001).

Consistent wh a long-standg body of social psychology rearch based on Allport’s (1954) ntact hypothis, scientists have repeatedly found evince for rced prejudice levels toward gay, lbian or bisexual people among heterosexuals who are acquated wh openly gay, lbian or bisexual members of society (e. The thors of a prehensive recent meta-analysis of the last six s of rearch this area monstrate that the rrelatn of ntact between heterosexuals and gay and lbian persons wh lower levels of sexual prejudice is signifintly higher than prejudice rctn lked to ntact wh any other target group, e. The percentage of ary service members strongly opposed to allowg gay and lbian persons serve the ary has cled nsirably over the last , wh only 5% of personnel the ary a 2006 poll statg that they are “very unfortable” teractg wh gay and lbian persons the ary, ntrasted wh 73% who were somewhat or very fortable this regard (Zogby et al., 2006).

Image source, Kev BazeleyImage ptn, Kev Bazeley says after the change the law, the RAF "beme mol employers for cln and diversy"A veteran who was forced to rign om the ary bee he was gay has said an apology om the prime mister has "returned his digny" Bazeley, om Worcter, served as an RAF navigator before beg arrted 1994 when his sexualy was revealed to Armed Forc was illegal for LGBT people to serve the UK ary until Sunak said the ban was an "appallg failure" and apologised for the treatment of LGBT was speakg the Hoe of Commons on Wednday after an pennt report to the ban looked at the experienc of personnel between 1967 and 2000 who lost their reers due to their Bazeley told BBC Hereford and Worcter: "We've been wag s for this apology, 's very weled", "It's that vditn, the return of my honour, my digny and my tegry that the state ma me doubt. "Mr Bazeley joed the RAF 1985 aged 18 and graduated as a navigator 1988 before servg VC10s and Nimrods and gettg married to a woman, wh whom he had two he lost his wallet Augt 1994, his membership rd for the Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club was found by RAF police, leadg to his arrt and beg asked to source, Kev BazeleyImage ptn, Mr Bazeley says his arrt and forced rignatn was "based purely on prejudice"Mr Bazeley said what followed was "that whole huiatn of beg walked off the aircraft past my iends and lleagu". "After fightg his expulsn om the RAF for 13 months, he eventually gave and was source, PA MediaImage ptn, The prime mister issued the apology durg PMQs on WedndayMr Bazeley said: "It was based purely on prejudice; was nsired by the senr ary that beg homosexual was patible wh service life.

I WAS KICKED OUT OF THE MILARY FOR BEG GAYI WAS KICKED OUT OF THE MILARY FOR BEG GAY

In the midst of ongog ntroversy over a Pentagon cisn to lim drag shows on bas after some crics plaed of alleged adult ntent, the mols and the racy mil performanc over the weekend raised qutns om LGBTQ+ advot about what creria Defense Secretary Lloyd At is g to stop some performanc associated wh the gay muny while allowg other provotive acts. Unr the new policy, gay, lbian and bisexual Amerins uld serve their untry, as long as they kept their sexual inty unr supporters of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” weled as a more liberal policy that would allow gay Amerins to serve their untry, gay rights activists plaed that forced the service members to secrecy, while dog ltle to bat the prejudice agast them. In 1981, the Department of Defense reaffirmed the ban, and durg the 1980s the ary branch discharged close to 17, 000 men and women unr the homosexual his 1992 printial mpaign, Bill Clton announced his tentn to end the ban on homosexuals the ary if elected.

In practice, the policy did ltle to change the behavr of mandg officers toward service members they spected of beg gay, and by 2009, the ary had discharged more than 13, 000 gays, lbians and bisexuals sce DADT was troduced, acrdg to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. In 2010, jt after Senate Republins blocked a repeal effort, Clton himself voiced regret over the policy, and said he had only settled on after beme clear both the Senate and the Hoe would favor an absolute ban on gays the Samad/AFP/Getty ImagPrint Barack Obama signg the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010 to law at the Department of the Interr Washgton, DC, on December 22, Repeal of 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell'Barack Obama mpaigned for print 2008 wh a promise to immediately overturn DADT, but the discharg ntued durg his first year the Whe Hoe. In 2015, the Pentagon add sexual orientatn to the Milary Equal Opportuny policy for the first time, meang gay servicemen and servicewomen would be protected om June 2016 the ary end s ban on transgenr service members, a group that acrdg to some timat may have numbered some 15, 500 at that time.

'” That letter, which is now held along wh the rt of Matlovich’s papers at the GLBT Historil Society San Francis, n be read here (roll over to zoom): Courty of Leonard Matlovich Papers, Gay, Lbian, Bisexual and Transgenr Historil Society Unlike Brown v. Advot timate that, between World War II and DADT’s repeal 2011, the ary discharged as many as 114, 000 service members on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientatn, sweepg transgenr, genr non-nformg, and queer service members perceived to be gay as repeal of DADT was a e for celebratn, but those service members subject to still mt ntend wh a loss of valuable benefs, burecratic transigence, and stigmatizatn.

RERDS OF GAY ARY SACKGS LETED BY MISTRY OF DEFENCE

GAYS THE MILARY

AIR FORCE HONORS GAY RIGHTS IN THE SERVICE KICKED OUT 1975

HOW A CLOSETED AIR FORCE SERGEANT BEME THE FACE OF GAY RIGHTS