119 HRES 1572 IH: Encouraging the recognition of a “National LGBTQ+ Servicemembers and Veterans Day”. U.S. House of Representatives 2026-09-21 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IV119th CONGRESS2d SessionH. RES. 1572IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESSeptember 21, 2026Ms. Randall submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concernedRESOLUTIONEncouraging the recognition of a National LGBTQ+ Servicemembers and Veterans Day.

Whereas September 20, 2026, is widely recognized as National LGBTQ+ Servicemembers and Veterans Day; Whereas lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (referred to in this preamble as LGBTQ+) servicemembers and veterans have honorably served in the Armed Forces in every war to which the United States was a party, beginning with the Revolutionary War; Whereas LGBTQ+ servicemembers and veterans have served in the Armed Forces despite discriminatory policies based on who they love or how they identify; Whereas, on April 27, 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10450 (18 Fed. Reg. 2489; relating to security requirements for Government employment), which declared sexual perversion to be a security risk and grounds for denying Federal employment; Whereas Executive Order 10450, which was eventually repealed by President Barack Obama in 2017, contributed to the Lavender Scare of the 1950s by banning gay and lesbian people from working in the Government, including in the Armed Forces, and was similarly applied to transgender people as early as 1960; Whereas, beginning in 1963, Army medical standards explicitly disqualified transgender people from serving in the Army, and for 30 years, beginning in the mid-1980s, Department of Defense regulations explicitly disqualified transgender people from military service; Whereas, in 1982, the Department of Defense implemented a policy stating that homosexuality is incompatible with military service, and between 1980 and 1990, an average of 1,500 military servicemembers were discharged every year on the basis of their sexual orientation; Whereas, in 1993, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 (Public Law 103–160; 107 Stat. 1547), Congress enacted the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, which declared that the presence of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people in the Armed Forces was an unacceptable risk to morale, good order, discipline, and unit cohesion, and required the Armed Forces to discharge servicemembers who— (1) engaged in, attempted to engage in, or solicited homosexual acts; (2) stated that they were homosexual or bisexual; or (3) married or attempted to marry a same-sex partner; Whereas the Department of Defense has acknowledged that 13,472 personnel were discharged from the Armed Forces under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, and an additional 19,365 personnel were discharged between 1980 and 1993 under similar policies that targeted servicemembers based on sexual orientation; Whereas the White House estimates that more than 100,000 servicemembers have been discharged from the Armed Forces for their sexual orientation or gender identity; Whereas, on September 20, 2011, the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy was officially repealed, following President Barack Obama's certification of the repeal on July 22, 2011, as required by the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (10 U.S.C. 654 note; Public Law 111–321); Whereas, on June 30, 2016, the Department of Defense announced an end to the ban on transgender servicemembers across all components of the Department of Defense; Whereas, on July 26, 2017, President Donald J. Trump announced that transgender people would not be allowed to serve in the Armed Forces; Whereas, on January 25, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden signed Executive Order 14004 (86 Fed. Reg. 7471; relating to enabling all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform), which repealed the 2017 ban on transgender servicemembers of the Armed Forces; Whereas, on June 26, 2024, President Joseph R. Biden pardoned veterans who had been convicted in courts martial for consensual sodomy between 1951 and 2013 under former article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice; Whereas, on January 27, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order 14183 (90 Fed. Reg. 8757; relating to prioritizing military excellence and readiness), which reinstated the ban on transgender servicemembers and directed the Department of Defense to stop respecting transgender people's correct pronouns and to prohibit transgender people from using facilities that align with their gender identity; Whereas, on February 7, 2025, the Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum halting all gender-affirming medical procedures for servicemembers; Whereas, on February 26, 2025, the Department of Defense announced that transgender and nonbinary servicemembers are no longer eligible for military service and will be processed for separation from military service; Whereas, on March 17, 2025, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it will no longer offer gender-affirming hormone therapy to veterans who were not already receiving such care; and Whereas challenges still exist for LGBTQ+ servicemembers and veterans seeking equitable treatment in service and access to benefits: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives— (1) encourages Americans to recognize a National LGBTQ+ Servicemembers and Veterans Day; (2) celebrates the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (referred to in this resolution as LGBTQ+) servicemembers and veterans who have served in the Armed Forces; (3) regrets the harm done to LGBTQ+ servicemembers and veterans under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy and earlier policies, bans on transgender servicemembers, and other policies that discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity; (4) recognizes how other than honorable and dishonorable discharges given to LGBTQ+ servicemembers on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity— (A) prematurely terminated the careers of LGBTQ+ servicemembers in the Armed Forces; (B) subjected LGBTQ+ servicemembers to the trauma of investigations and criminal charges; (C) unfairly denied LGBTQ+ servicemembers the honor associated with military service; (D) deprived LGBTQ+ servicemembers of benefits those servicemembers have earned and deserve as veterans; and (E) continue to cause LGBTQ+ servicemembers dignitary harm; (5) urges the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense— (A) to implement policy changes that restore justice and right wrongs caused by past and present government-sponsored discrimination, including by ending the transgender military ban; and (B) to conduct further outreach to LGBTQ+ servicemember and veteran communities to ensure that those discharged based on their sexual orientation and gender identity can receive their benefits; and (6) urges the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense to restore and expand access to the full range of health care needed by transgender veterans and servicemembers and their families, including gender-affirming care, and ensure that such care is delivered in a non-discriminatory and culturally competent manner.