""Approximately 114,000 servicemembers were discharged on the basis of their sexual orientation between WWII and 2011, while an estimated 870,000 LGBTQ servicemembers have been impacted by hostility, harassment, assault, and law enforcement targeting due to the military policies in place," the bill's introducers said in a press release. "These separations are devastating and have long-reaching impacts. Veterans who were discharged on discriminatory grounds are unable to access their benefits, and under the Trump administration, LGBTQ+ veterans and servicemembers have been openly persecuted," the release added."
""The Commission on Equity and Reconciliation in the Uniformed Services Act - reintroduced on Tuesday by out Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) - would create a 15-person commission to study past Department of Defense (DOD) actions \"policing sexual orientation and gender identity in the uniformed services, from the beginning of World War II and onward.\" The commission created by the legislation would gather testimony and hold hearings on the effects that anti-LGBTQ+ policies had on discharged soldiers' physical, mental, psychological, financial, and professional well-being, including their ability to access military benefits.""
Legislation would establish a 15-person Commission on Equity and Reconciliation in the Uniformed Services to investigate Department of Defense policies policing sexual orientation and gender identity from World War II onward. The commission would collect testimony and hold hearings on how anti-LGBTQ+ policies affected discharged servicemembers' physical, mental, psychological, financial, and professional well-being and their access to military benefits. Sponsors cited that approximately 114,000 servicemembers were discharged for sexual orientation between WWII and 2011 and that an estimated 870,000 LGBTQ servicemembers experienced hostility, harassment, assault, or law enforcement targeting. The commission would also study impacts on straight soldiers, notably women and people of color targeted for perceived queerness, and examine persecution under the Trump administration.
Read at LGBTQ Nation
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