California enacts regulation to assist LGBTQ army veterans

California’s governor has signed a regulation he says will assist army service members who have been discharged beneath “don’t ask, don’t inform” insurance policies to reestablish eligibility for Veterans Affairs advantages

SAN FRANCISCO — A brand new regulation in California will assist army service members who have been discharged beneath “do not ask, do not inform” insurance policies due to their sexual or gender identities to reestablish their eligibility for Veterans Affairs advantages, Gov. Gavin Newsom mentioned Saturday.

“For many years, our bravest heroes, women and men who wore the uniforms of the armed providers needed to cover who they actually have been, and lots of have been aside from honorably discharged if their sexuality was found,” Newsom mentioned in an announcement after asserting he had signed the invoice.

Gays and lesbians have been banned within the army till the 1993 approval of “don’t ask, don’t inform,” which allowed them to serve provided that they didn’t overtly acknowledge their sexual orientation. Relatively than serving to, advocates say, the coverage created extra issues. In its complete historical past, the army dismissed greater than 100,000 service members based mostly on their sexual or gender identities — 14,000 of them throughout “don’t ask, don’t inform.”

Repeal of the regulation was accredited by Congress after which President Barack Obama in late 2010 and took impact 9 months later, permitting lesbian, homosexual and bisexual individuals to serve overtly.

The Division of Protection subsequently created a path for veterans who had been discharged beneath the coverage to obtain the complete vary of veterans’ advantages.

“However many veterans sadly don’t know or can’t even entry this essential course of,” Newsom mentioned, including that some veterans making an attempt to reclaim advantages have needed to rent costly authorized counsel and different help to navigate the method. “We’re taking steps to repair this.”

The regulation would require the California Division of Veteran Affairs to ascertain the Veterans Discharge Improve Grant Program to assist advise LGBTQ veterans who have been discharged beneath “don’t ask, don’t inform” and to assist those that qualify to replace and proper their data and entry veterans’ advantages.