For Meinhold, who retired from the Navy in , the passage and subsequent reckoning over DADT was a necessary step in expanding gay rights in the United States. But one thing brings about another. But for many advocates, the past two years have pushed back the hard-fought gains they won after And, like in , while the President and Congress work with the politics, thousands of would-be sailors, soldiers, airmen and women, and support personnel wait to see what will become of their futures in the armed forces.
Write to Alejandro de la Garza at alejandro. President Bill Clinton addresses the nation about his decision to lift a year ban on homosexuals in the military on January 29, By Alejandro de la Garza. HRC is continuing to fight against this ban so that all people — especially transgender individuals — can serve our country.
Transgender service members speak out against the Trump-Pence administration's discriminatory trans military ban. By clicking "GO" below, you will be directed to a website operated by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, an independent c 3 entity. By using this site, you agree to our use of cookies. To learn more, please read our Privacy Policy.
Accept More Information. The Continued Fight for Transgender Rights In July , President Trump sent a hateful tweet that transgender individuals would no longer be able to enter the military and those currently enlisted would not be allowed to continue in their roles.
During that time there were active investigations of anyone supposedly gay or rumored to be gay. I watched many friends disappear only to later learn of their court martial and imprisonment or their removal from the service.
I was terrified to say the least of being found out and sought out legal advice. Needless to say, I came out to my commanding officer and from their the torture began. I was physically attacked, raped, and locked up until my Honorable discharge for homosexuality. I have been denied all benefits due to my short term service. When I was asked by both my parents and my CO to lie about my orientation until completing my service, I went back to one of the things all had told me.
I was backed into a corner which only had one escape hatch for survival. Any one of my friends could have outed me if they broke under interrogation and as I found out, that interrogation was brutal.
I held true to my honor as did many others. I was discharged in under DADT, just 1 year and 6 months into my first enlistment. However, when I was discharged I was forced to re-pay my enlistment bonus which put me into terrible financial shape and I was denied ALL benefits because I did not fulfill the minimum amount of service time. The government stole that from me, in addition to my career and my dignity.
Does anyone know if this applies to Veterans who served during DADT only or all gay Veterans, discharged during their time in the Military? Regardless of sexual orientation. Help me understand. The reason they should be exempt from length of service requirements is not because of their sexual orientation. It is because they were involuntarily discharged due to a discriminatory policy before getting the chance to reach the length of service required.
Many other Veterans that were involuntarily discharged for reasons such as convenience of the the government, reduction in force, etc are arleady granted an exception to the length of service requirements, because it is understood that it was not their fault that they did not reach the required length of service.
This situation is no different, except that only was it not the Veterans fault, it was in fact a discriminatory policy that caused them to not reach the required length of service.
This is fantastic! Thank you for this important step. However there are still many Veterans that were discharged due to sexual orientation or gender identity that do not have access to VA benefits due to being involuntarily discharged prior to having served long enough to meet the length of service requirements for these benefits. So for example, a Veteran discharged involuntarily under DADT after 23 months of service, still does not qualify for VA healthcare because there is a general 24 months of service requirement for VA healthcare.
It would only be fair to allow Veterans involuntarily discharged due to sexual orientation or gender identity, to be able to access these VA benefits regardless of their length of service, as it was these discriminatory policies that prevented them from meeting that requirement, not their own doing. Would it be possible to administratively give Veterans involuntarily discharged due to sexual orientation or gender identity regardless of length of service this same right to VA benefits?
Thank you! This is a fantastic step. So not only have they had to deal with the trauma of these discriminatory policies as you so well explained, but then after the fact, they have not had and still do not have access to even VA mental healthcare to help deal with this trauma. The same is true with educational benefits and the length of service requirements for these Veterans. I think it is only fair that there should be an exception made for Veterans discharged due to sexual orientation or gender identity in terms of the length of service required to access these VA benefits.
Is it possible to create a similar exception administratively in time of service requirements for Veterans involuntarily discharged due to sexual orientation or gender identity? I am a part of a small non-profit For All Vets that works on trying to help get these Veterans their benefits, and would love to talk to you about this if possible! I agree with you. The premise is as long as they do their job nothing else matters. It will never change, only get worse. If you are a Veteran in crisis or concerned about one, connect with our caring, qualified responders for confidential help.
Many of them are Veterans themselves. Get more resources at VeteransCrisisLine. An official website of the U. Department of Veterans Affairs. Looking for U. Visit USA.
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