Letter from Gordon Copeland to the Boston Veterans' Affairs office, regarding the benefits that the Air Force had denied him since 1953 due to his "undesirable discharge" (discharge based solely on accusation of homosexuality), dated July 3, 1979.

Letter from Gordon Copeland to the Boston Veterans' Affairs office, regarding the benefits that the Air Force had denied him since 1953 due to his "undesirable discharge" (discharge based solely on accusation of homosexuality), dated July 3, 1979.

July 3, 1979

This type-written letter, from Gordon Copeland (Charles' partner) to the Boston Veterans' Affairs office, requests "to activate a character of service determination to determine my access to VA benefits." The letter is dated July 3, 1979 - during the period of amnesty in which the military allowed undesirable discharges based solely on alleged homosexuality to be upgraded, thus allowing veterans the benefits they had been denied. This period of amnesty ran from 1976-1980, according to a pamphlet from the ACLU contained in this archive. Gordon had been discharged for homosexuality in 1953.

Gordon W. Copeland, Jr.

8.5" x 11"