CA could be first in nation to offer redress to gay vets
NEWS
Published 11/17/2011
by Dan Aiello
Sacramento Valley Veterans Michael D. Williams and President Ty Redhouse joined Assemblyman Dr. Richard Pan and Mario Guerrero, director of government affairs for Equality California, at a press conference last week where Pan announced proposed legislation to give state veterans benefits to LGBT service members discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Assemblyman Dr. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) announced last week that he will author legislation that will restore state veterans benefits to gay and lesbian service members who were discharged or court-martialed for being homosexual.
If passed, Pan's legislation will be the first such effort at redress by any state or federal agency.
"I am proposing this legislation to assure that gay and lesbian veterans who would otherwise have qualified for these benefits, see them restored," Pan told the Bay Area Reporter . "We need to correct this past injustice."
Asked if the legislation would include language apologizing for the unwarranted discrimination, Pan said, "Personally I believe an apology is due. They fought to defend our country and our country rejected them. The language is not yet finalized but because you have asked me, I think it's an important question I will certainly look to add to the language an apology."
Brian O'Hara, Pan's media director, told the B.A.R. that the proposed legislation will be introduced January 4, the first day of the legislative session.
Pan estimates there were approximately 3,000 Californians discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The military's 17-year-old anti-gay policy was repealed last year by Congress; the repeal went into effect September 20 after a number of certifications were completed by Defense Department officials and President Barack Obama.
If passed, Pan's law would apply to all service member discharges or court-martials where the only crime the veteran committed was being homosexual.
State benefits that would be restored include home loan assistance, college assistance for state schools for both the veteran and his or her children, business waiver fees, access to health care, and tax breaks for veterans who run small businesses.
"I hope this bill will start a national conversation and lead to other states and the federal government following California's lead," said Pan.
He referred to DADT as "an unfortunate political compromise" and "blatant and unwarranted discrimination."
"Our country is safer when gay and lesbian citizens can serve in the military," Pan told the B.A.R.
Asked if this legislation will address benefits or offer redress to the families of service members who have been killed or committed suicide following torment from other soldiers, Pan said it would not.
"There are some tragic, tragic stories. The whole thing is a blight on our nation's history. I'm under no illusions. This bill is not the end all of addressing every wrong that came with DADT," he said.
Pan, a physician, said health benefits for ousted vets and college assistance for them and their dependents are important first steps.
"As a pediatrician I have had the opportunity to care for youth who are LGBT or questioning. I've heard about the discrimination they face. Hearing about the struggles my patients have made, their issues have for me, made me sensitive," Pan told the B.A.R. "As a minority growing up in this country I have also experienced bullying at times because of my ethnicity, personally, growing up. Not to the extent that I've heard from some of my LGBT patients, but enough that I can appreciate their suffering.
The bill may also lead to a national conversation, Pan's spokesman noted.
"This is an important step to, first of all, send a clear message these vets deserve to be honored by the nation and second, that these benefits are deserved and should be restored," said O'Hara. "We are looking to right these past injustices and to spark a national conversation."
Equality California announced on Veterans Day that it was sponsoring Pan's bill.
"We say a lot that invisibility is inequality. The contributions of these service members made have largely been invisible to the American public and now we have an opportunity to shine a light on that," EQCA spokeswoman Rebekah Orr told the B.A.R.
Orr said the legislation originated with Pan.
"It was an idea that came from Dr. Pan – we were really thrilled to be able to support him with that," she said.
Retired Staff Sergeant Ty Redhouse, president of the other sponsoring organization, Sacramento Valley Vets, explained that denial of benefits differed between those veterans given honorable discharges under DADT and those who were ousted prior to the Clinton administration policy.
"Some veterans discharged before DADT were deemed undesirable," Redhouse told the B.A.R. "I have met veterans whose discharge papers listed them as 'undesirable.'"
Redhouse claimed those veterans who received dishonorable or undesirable discharges were denied all veterans benefits. Redhouse, who worked as an intelligence analyst for the Air Force from 1998 until 2006, served in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
"I think that the next step is to address the benefits of loved ones of veterans, their partners," Redhouse said. The most important of those benefits would be college tuition, access to health care and to burial benefits. Because it specifically denies benefits to spouses or domestic partners of gay and lesbian vets, Redhouse said his organization sees the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act as a critical next step in redress.
Redhouse's organization, online at
www.SacValleyVets.org, provides speakers on the repeal of DOMA, as well as California's pending redress legislation.
"We are very supportive of Dr. Pan and we're glad to be a part of the announcement of this legislation," said Redhouse.
Orr said the background that led to DADT almost 18 years ago was one of homophobia.
"I think that the motivations of DADT were very complicated," stated Orr. "The driver behind every effort to roll back equality, or prevent advances in equality, is to allow our opposition to continue to portray LGBT people as outsiders and not citizens of our country. I think it's more dehumanizing than that. I think it's that their efforts have always been to portray LGBT people as harmful to society. Something like DADT or the visibility of committed LGBT couples, those things sort of fly in the face of the lies they tell of LGBT people."
Pan, a freshman lawmaker, defeated Proposition 8 author Andrew Pugno last year for the 5th Assembly District seat. According to O'Hara, he was the only Democrat in the nation to win a Republican-held seat.