Mendez had previously started a support group on Facebook for male and female survivors of military sexual trauma in 2018.
[4] The Military Sexual Trauma Movement has worked nationally to raise awareness and advocate for new legal reforms which would offer greater protections to members of the Armed Forces, including testifying before Congress.
[8] On July 6, 2019, the Military Sexual Trauma Movement alerted the United States Marine Corps to a Facebook post in which Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kevin Ennett urged people to kill themselves if they objected to the presence of tanks at Donald Trump's controversial Salute to America event in Washington, D.C.[9] Ennett was subsequently disciplined for the post by his chain of command, and made an apology on Twitter.
[11] The bill, authored by New York State Assemblywoman Didi Barrett, was signed into law as the Restoration of Honor Act by Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2019, and restored benefits eligibility to veterans who were dishonorably discharged due to their LGBTQ identity, or their having experienced military sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury (TBI), or PTSD.
[12] The bill "makes New York the first state in the nation to restore the benefits of veterans who received less than honorable discharges either because of these traumas or because of their LGBTQ identity".