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Bill to help restore honor to gays kicked out of military is re-introduced in US Congress
Legislation was re-introduced in the US Congress on Wednesday (15 July) that seeks to give military personnel kicked out for being gay a chance to clear their record.
The Restore Honor to Service Members Act applies to service members discharged for no other reason than their sexual orientation who want to correct their military record to reflect their honorable service.
An estimated 100,000 service members were discharged for their sexual orientation prior to the 1994 implementation of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell which did not outright ban gays, lesbians and bisexuals from serving as long as they hid their sexuality. That policy officially ended in September 2011.
OutServe-SLDN, the legal services and policy organization dedicated to bringing about full LGBTI equality to America’s military, said the act is needed in order to codify the procedures and processes already taking place at the Department of Defense.
‘We are simply strengthening what exists and making it work efficiently and unequivocally for all gay and lesbian service members who were discharged in response to their sexual orientation,’ said Matt Thorn, OutServe-SLDN’s interim executive director.
Thorn said the legislation ‘will lift the anxiety, frustrations and time that service members have unfortunately become accustomed to in attempting to acquire their discharge upgrades.
‘It will breathe energy into the countless service members that we hear from who want upgrades but cannot acquire them because they were discharged prior to 1994.’
The legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by Democrats Mark Pocan and Charles Rangel and in the Senate by Democrats Brian Schatz and Kirsten Gillibrand.
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Greg Hernandez
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