US military amends records of those discharged with ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

Defence secretary says the step helps to ‘redress the harms’ done by the policy, which forced LGBTQ service members to hide their identities.

The United States military has upgraded the records of service members discharged under an old anti-LGBTQ policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in an effort to make amends.

Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday that 851 service members who lost their positions under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” had their status changed to “honourable discharge”.

Those who received discharges in categories other than “honourable” often lost out on military benefits, which range from educational funds, healthcare, pensions and other forms of compensation.

“Brave LGBTQ Americans have long volunteered to serve the country that they love. Some of these troops were administratively separated from military service under the now-repealed ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy,” the statement reads.

“Under President [Joe] Biden’s leadership, the Department of Defense has taken extraordinary steps to redress the harms done by ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and other policies on these former Service members.”