Jared Odessky Petitions DOD and DHS to Automatically Upgrade LGBTQ Veteran

Jared Odessky (’20), Fellow with the Gender Equity & LGBTQ Rights Program at Legal Aid at Work, published an article for Legal Aid at Work discussing the burdensome process of correcting discharge records for LGBTQ service members and supporting house legislation creating a commission to study ongoing inequities (“LGBTQ+ Veterans Still Suffer Harms from “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Ten Years after Repeal,” Aug. 31). “The repeal of DADT [Don’t Ask Don’t Tell] was a cause for celebration, but those service members subject to it still must contend with a loss of valuable benefits, bureaucratic intransigence, and stigmatization. . . . As the tenth anniversary of DADT’s repeal approaches, there is new movement to address these harms. . . . It is past time for the military to right the wrongs stemming from DADT and other anti-gay policies, ensuring that our LGBTQ veterans receive the full range of benefits available.”

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