Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta, left, kisses her girlfriend of two years, Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell, at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Virginia Beach, Va.(Photo: Brian J. Clark, AP)
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico -- Dozens of gay and lesbian former
military service members who were discharged due to their homosexuality
will receive the rest of their severance pay under a settlement approved
Monday by a federal court.
The American Civil Liberties Union
said the $2.4 million settlement covers more than 180 veterans who
received only half of their separation pay under a policy that went into
effect in 1991, two years before "don't ask, don't tell" became law.
Laura Schauer Ives, the managing attorney for ACLU of New Mexico, called the settlement a "long-delayed justice."
"There
was absolutely no need to subject these service members to a double
dose of discrimination by removing them from the armed forces in the
first place, and then denying them this small benefit to ease the
transition to civilian life," she said.
A Pentagon spokesman, Lt.
Col. Todd Breasseale, said the Defense Department is aware of the
settlement and "will, of course, continue to follow the law, as well as
the terms of the agreement."
The case was filed in 2010 by the
ACLU on behalf of former Air Force Staff Sgt. Richard Collins of Clovis,
N.M. He was honorably discharged in 2006 after two civilians who worked
with him at Cannon Air Force Base reported they saw him kiss his
boyfriend in a car about 10 miles from the base. The decorated sergeant
was off-duty and not in uniform at the time.
Collins said in a
statement Monday that the settlement means a lot to him and others who
were forced out of the military against their will.
Separation pay
is granted to military personnel who serve at least six years but are
involuntarily and honorably discharged. The Defense Department had a
list of conditions that triggered an automatic reduction in that pay,
including homosexuality, unsuccessful drug or alcohol treatment or
discharge in the interests of national security.
The lawsuit
argued that it was unconstitutional for the department to unilaterally
cut the amount for people discharged for homosexuality.
Even
though "don't ask, don't tell" was repealed last fall, the pay policy
was separate and a federal judge in Washington, D.C., allowed the case
to move forward.
At the time, the administration did not defend
the merits of the policy but argued that the defense secretary had sole
discretion to decide who gets what separation pay and that the court
shouldn't be able to rewrite military regulations.
The settlement
covers former military members who were discharged on or after Nov. 10,
2004. They will be notified by the federal government that they're
eligible to opt in to the settlement and receive their full separation
pay.
Associated Press