Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's office issued the following last week:
Discriminatory Discharges Can Prohibit Service Members from Accessing Benefits They Earned
June 27, 2019
Washington, DC –
U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) today
announced legislation to correct the military records of service members
who were discharged solely due to their sexual orientation. The Restore Honor to Service Members Act
would clear the records of LGBT service members whose discriminatory
discharges range from “other than honorable” to “general discharge” to
“dishonorable,” depending on the circumstances. These discharges can
disqualify service members from obtaining the benefits they earned. In
addition, these negative discharges can make it more difficult for
service members to claim veteran status, vote, and acquire civilian
employment. The Restore Honor to Service Members Act would also
require the Department of Defense to reach out to veterans who suffered
under discriminatory policies such as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and alert
them of the Department’s process for correcting their records or
initiating a review.
“Veterans who honorably served our nation should not have to fight for their benefits,” said Senator Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“The Restore Honor to Service Members Act would clear discriminatory
discharges they received on their records due solely to their sexual
orientation. Our veterans deserve the recognition and benefits they
earned for the sacrifices they made for our country, and I urge my
colleagues to join me and pass this important bill.”
“This bill is about confronting past
discrimination. Hundreds of thousands of gay and lesbian veterans were
unjustly discharged from the military, and then denied access to the
benefits and honorable service records that are rightfully theirs. This
bill is a chance for us to make it right,” said Senator Schatz.
Senator Gillibrand has long fought for the
rights of LGBT service members and led the successful bipartisan effort
to repeal the military’s discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
In February, she introduced bipartisan legislation to prohibit the
Department of Defense from kicking out members of the military solely
because of gender identity and to prevent the Department from blocking
transgender Americans from signing up to join the Armed Forces. In
January, Senator Gillibrand brought decorated transgender Navy
Lieutenant Commander Blake Dremann, who has been deployed 11 times and
won the Navy’s highest logistics award, to this year’s State of the
Union address.
The Restore Honor to Service Members Act is
cosponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO),
Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tom Carper (D-DE), Bob Casey
(D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL),
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI),
Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Robert
Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Gary Peters
(D-MI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Jon Tester (D-MT), Tom Udall (D-NM),
Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden
(D-OR).
Companion legislation is sponsored in the
U.S. House of Representatives by Representatives Mark Pocan (D-WI) and
Katie Hill (D-CA), and has more than 100 cosponsors.
Additionally, this legislation is supported by American Veterans for
Equal Rights, VoteVets.org, OutServe-SLDN, and the Human Rights
Campaign.