New figures reveal scope of military discrimination against LGBTQ troops, with over 29,000 denied honorable discharges

New figures shared exclusively with CBS News are offering a detailed look at the scope of decades of discrimination by the U.S. military against gay and lesbian service members, revealing that more than 29,000 individuals kicked out because of their sexuality were denied honorable discharges.

There have long been estimates suggesting about 14,000 service members were separated from the military under "don't ask, don't tell," the policy that banned gay men and women from serving openly from 1994 to 2011, but the military has never before shared a detailed breakdown of how many individuals were denied honorable discharges during and before "don't ask, don't tell," when gays and lesbians were prohibited from serving at all. 

The new data, which the nonprofit legal services organization Legal Aid At Work obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and shared with CBS News, covers the three decades from 1980 until the federal courts lifted the ban against gay and lesbian soldiers, sailors and airmen in 2010.