Watch: At the Federal and State Level, Help is Here for LGBTQ+ Veterans Tossed Out under DADT

New initiatives are adding momentum to LGBTQ+ veterans who were tossed out of the military under the anti-gay policy known as Don't Ask Don't Tell to correct their records and obtain the benefits they earned while in uniform.

ABC News reports that under the Biden administration the Pentagon is now looking to identify and reverse cases of LGBTQ+ servicemembers being dishonorably discharged simply because of who they were.

It's not a complete about-face; the discriminatory military policy was officially retired in 2011, and as of the following year, "2012, service members who were kicked out have been able to apply to a military board for a chance to have official records upgraded to remove references to sexual orientation and qualify for more benefits," ABC News noted.

But the process is not easy, and many didn't even know it was an option, the report added.

"The bottom line is the veteran has to know to ask for it, and they have to know how to file it, and it's not simple," the Discharge Upgrade Program at The Veterans' Consortium's Christie Bhageloe told the outlet.

"Earlier this year, the Biden administration announced that the military would for the first time begin proactively reviewing discharge records to identify and help those who were kicked out and have not come forward," ABC News added.

But not all efforts to right the historic wrong done to an estimated 100,000 servicemembers throughout American history has been undertaken by the federal government. "Several states in recent years have moved to take matters into their own hands" to "rectify" the benefits-denying dishonorable discharges.

Massachusetts is a prime example. Openly gay Gov. Maura Healey told ABC News, "Here in Massachusetts we said, 'No, that's not right. We're going to set up a board. We're going to make sure that any veteran who served, who is discharged because they were gay, is going to be in line and receive state benefits'."

Gov. Healy added that the state wants to see to it that veterans are helped in as timely a manner as possible. "The stigma that came from that discriminatory law – Don't Ask, Don't Tell – is something that continues to live with our gay veterans to this day," she went on to say.

The deprivations inflicted on America's LGTBQ+ veterans due to DADT – and, before it, a general policy that discharged non-heterosexual servicemembers – are considerable, limiting life prospects and even endangering health for people who would have been provided the benefits given to military veterans if not for discriminatory policies and practices.

CBS News cited the example of Donnie Ray Allen, a former Marine whose service record was a shining credit to himself and to the Corps – until he came out a day before his was due to be discharged, a courageous step he wanted to serve as an illustration of the unjust nature of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. But that didn't happen; "An investigation was launched and he says months of harassment followed before he was finally allowed to leave – without his honorable discharge," CBS News relates.

Only now is the damage done despite his stellar career being addressed. "At 47 years old, Allen is pursuing his bachelor's degree, a dream he gave up decades ago when he was discharged from the military, denied an honorable discharge, and thus deprived of the crucial GI bill he needed to pay for college," CBS News noted.

Moreover, Allen told CBS News, "If I get sick, if I get cancer or something like that, it will all be covered under the VA now," thanks to his dishonorable discharge being wiped off his record. "So that is a huge weight off my shoulders."

Don't Ask Don't Tell was implemented in 1993 under then-President Bill Clinton, who had hoped to do away with the military's discriminatory treatment of LGBTQ+ Americans but who was stymied by homophobic opposition. The measure was supposedly a way to allow non-heterosexual patriots to serve their country without fear, as long as they kept the truth about themselves under wraps.

But that's not how things played out.

"The witch hunt was always around," Allen recalled to CBS News, meaning that LGBTQ+ servicemembers had to be constantly vigilant about exposure, investigation, and expulsion.

ABC News told the story of Navy veteran Annie Reyes, who fell victim to anti-LGBTQ+ rumors even as she was serving at sea.

"We were in Bahrain in the middle of the ocean, and they're like, 'This is the perfect time to kick someone out for being gay'," Reyes told ABC News. "Even right now, I don't qualify to get my full benefits because I didn't get a chance to serve the four years."

The Navy vet went on to outline a chief argument that LGTBQ+ troops have long tried to drive home: That their readiness and capacity to serve is in no way hampered by their innate and unchangeable sexuality.

"I'm willing to risk my life," Reyes said. "You're wondering who I'm sleeping with? It's the stupidest thing."

Added Reyes: "I don't need an apology. I need them to fix the things they broke."

Laudable as they are, current initiatives to do just that are still a drop compared to the ocean of injustice that LGBTQ+ patriots suffered, and continue to suffer.

"A Defense Department official told CBS News that it has already begun the process of reviewing records of some 2,000 veterans for potential discharge upgrade eligibility," CBS News detailed.

However, the report went on to add, the news service's "investigation found the population of LGBTQ service members who were denied an honorable discharge numbers more than 29,000."

Watch the CBS News report below.