Veterans forced out for being gay still waiting for benefits

WASHINGTON — Nearly a year after the Department of Veterans Affairs promised to restore benefits to some former members of the military who were forced out for being gay, a nonprofit legal group that represents veterans says the VA has refused to explain what its new guidance entails — or whether it was implemented.

The National Veterans Legal Services Program filed a complaint in federal court late last month, alleging that the VA has not responded to requests to release what the department called “newly-issued guidance.”

“There was all this attention with the announcement, then we started asking around, and no one had a copy of the policy,” said Renee Burbank, the nonprofit’s director of litigation. “What does it actually say? What does it actually change or do? For all we know, it could be perfect. It could be great. But we don’t know unless we see it.”

Since Congress first banned sodomy under the 1916 Articles of War, more than 100,000 people have been pushed out of the military because of their sexuality, including an estimated 14,000 under President Bill Clinton’s policy known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Because many of those were booted from the military with “less than honorable” or “other than honorable” discharges, thousands of people ousted under “don’t ask, don’t tell” do not have benefits, including access to health care, home loans and educational support through the VA.

Last fall, on the 10th anniversary of the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” VA spokeswoman Kayla Williams announced in a blog post that the department planned to issue new guidance allowing VA adjudicators to possibly grant benefits to service members who were discharged based on homosexual conduct, gender identity or HIV status. Williams said the new guidance would also direct adjudicators to consider changing the discharge status for veterans who were kicked out because of their sexuality.

Veterans groups celebrated the announcement. But in the 10 months since, Burbank said, officials at the VA have not explained how it will decide who will receive the benefits. The NVLSP filed a public records request in April to review the guidance, and VA officials acknowledged receipt of the request, but they have not fulfilled it, the complaint alleges. (Officials at VA did not respond to multiple requests from the

Washington Post for comment.) Without a written version of the guidance, Burbank said, many veterans appear to remain ineligible for benefits. A VA regulation, for example, still states that if a service member was separated from the military due to “homosexual acts involving aggravating circumstances or affecting the performance of duty,” they are barred from most VA benefits, with no corresponding provision for heterosexual acts.