U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Sen. Todd Young (R-Indiana) have reintroduced the Restore Honor to Service Members Act on the 10-year-anniversary of the repeal of the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy, according to Schatz's website.
The bipartisan legislation aims to revise the military records of service members discharged solely due to their sexual orientation in order to authorize their honorable service and reinstate the benefits they earned. This builds on Schatz’s 2020 National Defense Authorization Act amendment, which turned the Department of Defense’s temporary process for service members to correct their records into permanent law.
The accompanying legislation was initially introduced by U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin) and has over 60 cosponsors.
Schatz said the measure was long overdue.
"Ten years ago today, 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' was repealed,” Schatz said in a Sept. 20 Facebook post. “Under this terrible policy, tens of thousands of gay and lesbian veterans were unjustly forced out of the military -- given either “dishonorable,” “general” or “other than honorable” discharge statuses -- just for being who they are. Their records need to be corrected. Here's why:
“Because these veterans are denied honorable service records, they’re also denied the benefits they deserve -- including military funeral honors and VA services like medical care and counseling. We owe it to those who have sacrificed so much for our country to right this wrong. That’s why today, I reintroduced my bipartisan bill, the Restore Honor to Service Members Act, to make sure that every veteran gets what rightfully belongs to them."
Over 100,000 Americans are estimated to have been discharged from the military since World War II based on their sexual orientation, according to Schatz's website.
Veterans affected by these past policies are sometimes unaware that they can have their records modified or start a review process.