Congressman Garcia Leads Colleagues in Oversight of Pentagon’s Work to Upgrade Veterans Discharged Under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
Washington, D.C. – Today, Representative Robert Garcia (CA-42),a Co-Chair of the Equality Caucus, wrote an oversight letter to the Secretary of Defense urging the Department seeking information on their efforts to proactively review and upgrade cases LGBTQI+ veterans who were discharged under less than honorable conditions for their sexual orientation prior to the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) 12 years ago. The Congressman was joined by Equality Caucus Chair Mark Pocan (WI-02) and Co-Chair Chris Pappas (NH-01).
“Our service members made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our country. ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was a policy that should have never existed in the first place, but we’re unfortunately still feeling the repercussions of it to this day. Now, the Department of Defense has the responsibility to uplift LGBTQ+ veterans who were previously degraded because of their sexuality. We are calling on the Secretary of Defense to continue prioritizing the Department’s commitment to reevaluate the thousands of cases where an LGBTQ+ serviceworker was discharged under less than honorable conditions in an attempt to correct the record and honor them the way they deserve,” said Equality Caucus Co-Chair, Congressman Robert Garcia.
“The United States government has a moral obligation to right the wrongs it committed when it dishonorably discharged veterans from the armed services on the grounds of their sexual orientation. The DoD’s plan to upgrade the less-than-honorable discharges of queer servicemembers is an important step towards ensuring that every veteran’s record reflects their honorable service and profound sacrifice, and making sure they are able to access the benefits they deserve.” said Equality Caucus Chair, Congressman Mark Pocan.
“While it’s been thirteen years since the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’, the trauma of these policies is not over, and for far too many LGBTQ+ service members and veterans their injustice has not been corrected,” said Equality Caucus Co-Chair, Congressman Pappas. “I’m pleased that the Department of Defense has recently taken critical steps to review records and increase outreach efforts to those discharged under this discriminatory policy. We must continue working to improve this process and enable LGBTQ+ service members who were unjustly discharged to receive the benefits they earned.”
The letter asks a series of oversight questions and requests information regarding the Department of Defense’s September 2023 decision to proactively review records of service members dismissed under DADT and forward these cases to the respective service secretaries for consideration for potential correction through the service boards. In 2010, Congress passed the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) Repeal Act into law. The policy officially ended in 2011, ensuring any American who wishes to serve in uniform can do so without discrimination because of who they love. However, since the DADT repeal, many veterans who sought to upgrade their less than honorable discharges reported a prolonged and burdensome process, often requiring the use of a lawyer, to seek the respect and benefits they rightfully earned. And far too many veterans discharged under DADT had no idea they could seek an upgrade or where to start the process.
Congressman Robert Garcia believes that government has a responsibility to protect the LGBTQI+ community—especially transgender and nonbinary Americans—and defend the important progress our nation has made on issues like the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” As Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, he always pushes back against GOP efforts to politicize the military for partisan purposes, arguing that we should be taking steps that actually support men and women in uniform. He also led the charge in submitting an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act restricting U.S. security assistance to Uganda over the country’s recently enacted anti-LGBTQ+ law.
As former Mayor of the City of Long Beach, Congressman Garcia helped ensure the city achieved a perfect score in the Human Rights Campaign's Municipal Equality Index every year he was in office. Under his leadership the city made gender-affirming care available to all employees and began the process of establishing a first-of-its-kind historic district to commemorate the LGBTQI+ residents, businesses, and legacy of activism in the Broadway corridor neighborhood.
