LGBT Vets Get Full Separation Pay

Gay and lesbian veterans discharged from the military under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will now get full separation pay, thanks to a court settlement reached Monday between the federal government and the American Civil Liberties Union. After DADT was repealed and expired in 2011, an unchanged statute forced gay and lesbian service members to receive half the separation pay from the U.S. government. “It makes no sense to continue to penalize service members who were discharged under a statute that has already been repealed,” said a staff attorney general for ACLU in a statement. The settlement covers roughly 181 gay service members who were honorably discharged on or after Nov. 10, 2004.