Summary for Congressional bill S 1766 (114th):

An estimated 100,000 service members since WWII have been discharged due to their sexual orientation.

This bill gives gay veterans a path to an honorable discharge, if their sexual orientation was the only reason for their dishonorable discharge.

If an honorable discharge given, also requires sexual orientation to be removed from their discharge papers.

Vote Yes if you believe:

Gay veterans should not be discriminated against in the military. #GayRights

Gay veterans should not have to “come out” through their discharge papers to potential employers. #Veterans #GayRights

Gay veterans should have access to the benefits of an honorable discharge. #HonorableDischarge #GayRights

Vote No if you believe:

Gays were a distraction during their service and deserved their less than honorable discharges. #HonorableDischarge #GayRights

Gays should not have special protection under the law. #GayRights

Congress.gov link to S 1766

(This is the 1st draft of the summary for a bill in Polinav. Summary & In-Depth is non-partisan & Vote yes/no reasons are fact-checked. if you think something is wrong, should be added or deleted, comment below!)

It was so difficult for me to write the “Vote No” reasons, because I personally believe that gays should have rights like the rest of us. Btw, I’m Christian. At the same time, I am troubled by how to deal with religious freedom that clashes with gay rights.

What I don’t like about putting gay rights as absolutely paramount above religious freedom at this moment is that I feel like you never want to drive someone into a corner, politically speaking. I feel like that’s what happened with abortions & we’re dealing with the consequences of it right now.

Anyhow, back to this bill. I think this is a no brainer. Being openly gay has not been cause for a discharge since Sept 2011 (when Don’t Tell Don’t Ask was repealed). From WWII until Sept 2011, it has been estimated that 100,000 veterans have been discharged because of their sexual orientation, causing them to miss out on various benefits that they were due from their military service, some solely because of their sexual orientation.

There’s just no way that this bill would see floor time in either chamber of Congress right now without a strong show of support from constituents, especially with Republicans controlling both chambers. If this is truly what the majority of the country wants, then something like our app (Polinav) will have to keep representatives accountable to their constituents opinions :).

I would want my representative to vote YES on this bill!