PORTLAND, Ore. — A newly introduced bill proposes requiring the Department of Defense (DoD) to proactively upgrade military discharges for people who were expelled solely because of their sexual orientation.
On Tuesday, Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer introduced the Republican-backed bill, called the Recover Pride in Service Act. The bill would also establish a unit within the DoD to conduct active outreach to veterans to aid them in the upgrade application process, in addition to simplifying administrative requirements.
Although the bill centers around "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" discharges, Rep. Chavez-DeRemer's policy team said it would apply to veterans who served before the policy was enacted in 1994. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was repealed in 2011.
"People who serve in our military are very proud to serve this country," Rep. Chavez-DeRemer said on Wednesday. "I think it's time to do the right thing ... these people who are wrongfully discharged, we've accepted that, we've repealed it, now let's give them the benefits that go with that as if it didn't happen."
Rep. Chavez-DeRemer acknowledged that this topic has been discussed in previous Congresses, but since proactively amending these veterans' military records hasn't become law, she's proposing action now and hopes to make the system less difficult to navigate.
Last fall, Democratic lawmakers in D.C. proposed creating a Congressional commission to investigate the historic and ongoing impacts of discriminatory military policies, such as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" on LGBTQ+ servicemembers and veterans. Senator Jeff Merkley signed on as a sponsor. However, the bill hasn't moved beyond introduction.
Cheryle Gardiner's son, Martin Cerezo, was given an other than honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy in 1990 when he was only 20 years old. Gardiner said he had a perfect record otherwise.
"He had an enormous amount of self-confidence — probably too much, if truth be known — and it took all that out of him," she said on Wednesday. "He was so enthusiastic ... When I saw him in his uniform and how proud he was to be in his uniform, and they took all of that away from him and every time he tried to fix it, it was being taken away from him again."
Although he tried off and on for years to begin the tedious application process of appealing his discharge status, his mother said he couldn't follow through.
"He was 20 years old and being kicked out of the Navy again," Gardiner said. "He'd start, but then all those feelings would come back. There's so much pain associated with it. And it's wrong."
For the last couple of years, Gardiner fought tirelessly to upgrade his discharge status, working with lawyers, sifting through government paperwork, and enlisting the help of state leaders, so her son could be buried with full military honors at Willamette National Cemetery.
"The government did it. The government needs to fix it," she said, "I would like to see Washington come together, both sides of the aisle, Democrats and Republicans, don't issue a bill on one side and a bill on the other side. Come together and work seriously together to do something for the people who volunteered to serve this country."
KGW reached out to the candidates running for Oregon's fifth congressional district in 2024. As of Thursday morning, Jamie McLeod-Skinner's campaign responded and shared a statement.
"While honoring and appropriately compensating those who have served our country in uniform is always appropriate, this policy was already established in September 2021," the statement said. "If Lori truly believes in this principle, she should sign on to the Equality Act as a co-sponsor as her name is missing from the list. Her refusal to support meaningful legislation and instead propose a publicity stunt is profoundly disrespectful of the LGBTQ community and the hurt that these policies have caused."
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to Willamette National Cemetery as Willamette Nation Cemetery.