Local Congressmember Bob Filner will become the chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, making him the most powerful member of Congress from the San Diego region. That’s exciting news for us.

Filner has always been an advocate of the underdog. Forty years ago, he served jail time as part of the “Freedom Fighters” (persons who went to Southern states to register African-American voters). And about 30 years ago, Filner, who was then an assistant professor of history at SDSU, was the only member of the SDSU faculty senate who stood with me and other student senators in support of giving students a more direct role in faculty reappointment, tenure and promotion decisions.

Throughout the years, Filner has advocated for the underdog, including his support for GLBT rights. He’s paid a price for that, even from fellow Democrat and now insurance lobbyist Juan Vargas.

Filner’s tenure in Congress has been marked by his advocacy for the rights of veterans, particularly the underdog veterans: the mentally ill, the men and women from Pacific Rim countries, Jewish veterans, gay men and lesbians.

That’s great news for our returning veterans. They will need Bob Filner. The current administration has boasted about supporting the troops and the veterans.

Filner will find the truth. He will most certainly hold hearings so returning vets can testify to the lack of equipment, support, armor and training they received. With 3,000 dead soldiers and tens of thousands with physical and mental wounds, there will be a lot to tell.

He will also hear from returning gay and lesbian personnel who will report that they sacrificed their limbs for a government that does not allow them to serve openly.

As chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee, Filner will put pressure on the Armed Services Committee to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

It does seem absurd that we argue about gays and lesbians serving openly in the military in the midst of a war. The issue now should be how the Department of Defense will integrate gays and lesbians and their partners and children into military life.

I have received e-mails from individuals in Iraq complaining that they cannot attend the funerals of their life partners or even list their adopted children as dependents for fear the military will, undoubtedly, question the same-sex parentage.

In the meantime, Filner can use his power as chair to require the Veterans Affairs Committee to study the effects of discharges for GLBT military personnel. We know that prior to DADT, and now after, there have been thousands of discharges of gay and bisexual men and women. In virtually all of these cases, the only “crime” the military could show was that the individual was attracted to members of the same sex.

In some cases, these men and women have had to endure the stigma of being discharged, which carries a greater stigma than just administrative separation. In either case, an active-duty military person has been separated from military service. Not only has this government denied them their health, education, housing and job-assistance benefits, it has also given them a scarlet letter.

The study should conclude with what we all know: Involuntary military separation based on sexual orientation has severe economic, health and social repercussions. The study should also estimate the cost of paying “reparations” to these veterans or, at the very least, estimate the cost of providing benefits.

I’ve written here that discharges based upon one’s sexual orientation should be rescinded, reparations paid and benefits reinstated. There have been grave injustices in this country – slavery, imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II – and discharging gay and bisexual men and women is another tragedy that needs correcting.

Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Filner could also right another wrong. I’m suggesting that Congress enact the “Equal Access to Military Memorials Act.” Some will recall that Congressmember Duncan Hunter, then chair of the Armed Services Committee, was able to pass through a federal law that allowed the federal Parks Department to accept a gift of land – Mount Soledad Memorial Park – from the city of San Diego.

As Congressmember Filner knows well, people of all faiths have fought to defend the Constitution and its guarantee of religious freedom and diversity.

Standing tall with the cross atop Mount Soledad should be other symbols that reflect the diversity of those Americans who have given their lives for this country. Yes, that could mean a pink triangle, a Star of David, symbols of Islam and the like. This is a nation that respects cultural and religious pluralism. It’s what those men and women fought for.