Connecticut lawmakers are proposing an extension of state veterans’ benefits to LGBT members of the armed forces who were withheld honorable discharges because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Reports the Danbury-based News-Times:
“The brave Americans who served this nation deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and deserve the benefits they earned,” said state Rep. Raghib Allie-Brennan, D-Bethel, one of the co-sponsors of the bill. “Who you are or who you love shouldn’t have an impact on the care you receive. Our bill will correct an incredible injustice.”
The number of Connecticut veterans affected by this is unclear because their discharges could have been logged under mental health or a slew of other categories, Allie-Brennan said. It’s hard for these veterans to come forward because they have been “shamed” by military, he said.
“It’s going to be a small group of people in the state, but obviously the effect and what it’s going to do for these veterans is going to be big,” Allie-Brennan said.
About 100,000 service members across the country were discharged from the military due to their sexual orientation between World War II and the 2011 repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” act, according to the American Psychoanalytic Association.
“Many LGBTQ service members were subjected to public and long-lasting humiliation, resulting in lingering trauma,” the association wrote. “In addition, many who would have served their country never had the chance to do so, for fear of being rejected or receiving less than honorable discharges.”
These veterans also were ineligible for benefits, including insurance, employment and education assistance, and the right to be buried in a military cemetery, the legislators said.
This hurt veterans as they tried to get jobs and “reintegrate into the civilian world,” said Steve Kennedy, an Iraq war veteran.
“This bill is an important step in recognizing the service of all veterans, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, and helping them to build their lives here in Connecticut,” said Kennedy, Connecticut team leader for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
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