While Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is posting bizarre videos wishing for a return to the violent masculinity that brought us the Vietnam War, the Biden-Harris administration has scored another big win for LGBTQ+ justice.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Tuesday that more than 800 former service members discharged under the homophobic “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy have had their status upgraded to “honorable discharge” after a yearlong review.
“Don't Ask, Don't Tell” affected more than 13,000 military members during the 17 years it was in effect and barred openly gay people from serving. According to Christa A. Specht, a legal policy director at the Pentagon, while most of those members were given honorable discharges, “nearly 2,000 were separated with less than fully honorable characterizations.”
While many of those affected by the policy appealed for an upgrade after the policy was reversed in 2011, others likely didn’t know that was an option and did not apply. Austin announced in September 2023 that the Pentagon would be reviewing the remaining cases in order to “do right by our outstanding service members, military families, and civilian employees.” According to Austin, 96.8% of the cases reviewed received an upgrade to their status.
"We're encouraging anyone who still believes that there is something in their military record that is an error or an injustice—in particular, service members who might have been impacted by records that predate Don't Ask, Don't Tell who were separated for their sexual orientation—to come forward and request relief through the boards," Specht said. "They have a high chance of success."
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s most notable achievement when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community was banning transgender service members from the military. That bigoted ban was lifted by Joe Biden in 2020, just days after he was sworn in as president.
Presdient Barack Obama signs the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 into law at the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 22, 2010.
Trump and his MAGA brethren continue to use anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry as a political tool to incite the most ignorant members of their base. Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville was willing to punish military service members and their families, blocking top-level military promotions and confirmations for most of 2023, in an unpopular attack on what he and Trump deemed the “woke military.”
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994 as a compromise with hard-liners who wanted all LGBTQ+ people banned from military service. Advocates continued to fight against the policy for years before it was repealed during President Barack Obama’s administration in 2011.
For all his talk about how his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris threatens our country’s "freedom," the reality is that another Trump administration would mean clawing back human and civil rights—and less freedom for all Americans.
Help ensure our freedom by helping Kamala Harris defeat Donald Trump this November!
