The policy forced thousands of service members to stay in the closet, reports NBC 7’s Shandel Menezes.
Before 2011, openly LGBTQ people were not allowed to serve in the U.S. military.
On Wednesday at Mesa College in San Diego, four gay veterans shared their stories.
“My LGBTQ identity throughout all of my military experience was kind of, interesting, though, because I was always told that I was just one of the boys and, you know, they didn't really see me that way,” said Navy veteran Sky Lowe. “I was like, ‘Oh, that's interesting because there are other people who you clearly have something to say about.’ ”
“Just in my time on the ship, I definitely had to basically hide,” added fellow Navy vet Rodd Brisson.
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If someone were to find out service members weren’t straight, they were dishonorably discharged from service.
“There were many times where we had very homophobic chiefs," said Jordan Hymas, who served for six years.
In the early '90s, the Clinton administration passed the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. Rather than being immediately discharged, these service members could stay enlisted so long as they kept their sexuality a secret.
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The policy was a step away from the discrimination that existed before, but more than 13,000 service members still ended up being dishonorably discharged. They lost their VA benefits and job opportunities. For many, their mental health suffered as well.
“I suffered from depression, especially being closeted throughout that time,” Donald Hua, a Marine Corps veteran said on Wednesday.
In 2011, the Obama administration rescinded the policy, but the stigma remained.
“My first thought was, ‘OK, finally I can let go and be free,’ but it wasn't as simple as a switch,” Brisson said. “Like, even at 35 years old, I'm still getting used to being completely myself.”
Six years later, Pres. Donald Trump banned trans people from enlisting.
“It was the first time that the uniform I was wearing felt like a prison,” Hymas said.
It’s been three years since President Biden rescinded that ban, but Jacob Babauta, who works with Mesa College’s Pride Center, said the work is far from over.
“One does not just overcome the trauma of decades of suppression overnight," Babauta said. "There would need to be a huge culture shift toward acceptance and toward kindness, as well as the institutional shift.”
There are ongoing lawsuits and efforts to get the military service members discharged under those policies any benefits that they have been denied.
