The Board of Directors of NLGBTVM has determined that those separated from a period of service with an honorable or general discharge are eligible for memorialization  on the Memorial Garden site. We believe that the Memorial Garden should be a place of honor and since we are not in a position to review discharge documents, we are not qualified to determine eligibility for those with a discharge of less than honorable conditions.

The NLGBTVM Board recognizes that prior to DADT being enacted in the 1990s and also prior to its repeal in 2010, that many LGBT Veterans received less than an honorable discharge.  We encourage those individuals who received less than an honorable discharge for no other reason than homosexuality to appeal their character of discharge now that DADT has been repealed.

If you wish to pursue having your discharge upgraded, we suggest three things:

1. For self help, contact the National Veterans Law Services Program at info@nvlsp.org The NVLSP and Lexis-Nexis have published the book entitled VETERANS BENEFITS MANAUAL (2001 Ed.). See Chapter 21, "Upgrading Less Than fully Honorable Discharges."

2. Find the help of a lawyer who does Veterans Law, one place to begin is with the list (by location) of practitioners accredited by the US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims at http://www.uscourts.cavc.gov/practitioners/.
3.  American Veterans for Equal Rights at www.AVER.org

If you wish to be memorialized, please send us a letter at our mailing address, NLGBTVM, P.O. Box 780514, San Antonio, Texas 78278-0514 with the following:  a copy of your DD Form 214, your name, address, email address, phone number (home and cell), final military rank, branch of service, dates of service and donation.  We will then get in touch with you.

This project is dedicated to you and your service.  We appreciate your service and now your nation does as well.  Thanks for your support of this endeavor.