Monday marked a huge victory for tens of thousands of LGBTQ military veterans.
The Pentagon said it will restore the discharge records of 35,000 veterans to "honorable," ending a class action suit filed more than a year ago by veterans outed under the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policies.
Lily Steffanides was one of the named plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit filed in 2023, asking the military to “systematically upgrade discharges” for service members kicked out for sexual orientation.
"I feel like some shackles just came off of me," Steffanides said. "I feel like I’ve been shackled to this discharge for 30 years.”
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For decades, the records of tens of thousands of LGBTQ veterans read “other than honorable.”
Now, the Pentagon has agreed to do that: systematically upgrade the status of discharged veterans like Steffanides to “honorable” and provide their benefits.
NBC Bay Area's Thom Jensen has more in the video above.
