The Department of Defense reached a historic settlement with more than 30,000 LGBTQ+ veterans who were discharged under the controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT) policy, which allowed LGBTQ+ members to serve only if they concealed their sexuality.
As a part of the settlement, those discharged under DADT or similarly discriminatory policies will be able to easily update their paperwork to remove mention of their sexuality. Previously, veterans who wanted to update their discharge papers had to undergo a complicated, years-long legal process that “most veterans just didn’t want to put themselves through”, said Jocelyn Larkin, one of the lawyers who represented the class-action group.
Now, as early as this summer, veterans will simply need to visit the Department of Defense website and request updated paperwork. Those seeking to update their discharge status from “Other Than Honorable” discharges or “General Under Honorable”, about 5,000 people, will be able to “opt-in to a group review process”, according to the settlement press release. The Department of Defense will submit groups of people to a review board to handle requests, a continuation of a pilot program the department carried out last year, said Larkin.
“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 the plaintiff Sherrill Farrell, a US navy veteran, in a press release about the settlement. “Today, I am once again proud to have served my country by standing up for veterans like myself, and ensuring our honor is recognized,” she said, referring to the historic win.
The lawsuit was filed in August 2023 in the US district court for the northern district of California by veterans who were removed from military service between 1980 to 2011.
Many veterans dismissed under DADT went on to face future discrimination because their discharge paperwork listed their sexual orientation. Others removed under DADT were later ineligible for jobs and veteran benefits because they received less than honorable discharges.
Larkin celebrated the settlement as a necessary, corrective step for LGBTQ+ veterans everywhere.
“It is so important that the continuing effects of this discriminatory policy are finally going to be addressed,” Larkin said to the Guardian. “It was terrific that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was repealed, but it wasn’t enough because people were still suffering from having documents that bore the stigma of having been gay in the military. So, it is an incredibly important step to tell these veterans that their service was honorable.”
The settlement still requires approval by a federal judge, but will probably be approved in 75 to 90 days.