Biden to pardon potentially thousands of former service members convicted under repealed gay sex ban

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden has pardoned potentially thousands of former U.S. service members convicted of violating a repealed military ban on consensual gay sex, saying Wednesday it was “righting a historic wrong” to allow them to recover lost benefits.

Biden’s action grants pardons to service members convicted under former Uniform Code of Military Justice Section 125, which criminalized sodomy. The law, which has been in force since 1951, was rewritten in 2013 to prohibit only acts of coercion.

” READ MORE: From 2010: Opinion | Don’t ask, don’t tell – just do it: gays deserve to serve now

Pardoned individuals will be able to apply for proof that their conviction has been expunged, apply for an increase in their discharge from military service, and seek recovery of lost pay and benefits.

“Today, I am righting a historic wrong by using my pardon authority to pardon many former service members who were convicted simply for being themselves,” Biden said in a statement. “We have a sacred duty to all of our service members – including our brave LGBTQI+ service members: to prepare and equip them properly when they are sent into danger, and to care for them and their families when they return home. Today we are making progress in this pursuit.”

The president is exercising his pardon power during Pride Month, and his action comes just days before a high-profile fundraiser with LGBTQ donors scheduled for Friday in New York. Biden is trying to gain support from the Democratic community ahead of the presidential election.

Modern Military, the nation’s largest organization for LGBTQ+ service members and their families, said the decision was a “historic step toward justice and equality” and urged the military to quickly approve the pardons.

Biden’s announcement is “a significant step in recognizing and righting the wrongs done to LGBTQ+ service members who have experienced discrimination and wrongful convictions under policies like ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’” the organization said in a statement after the pardons were announced. “These brave individuals stood on the front lines of freedom, risking their lives to defend our country, yet faced injustice at home.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement that the actions are a step in the “march toward greater equality” and “right the historic wrong done to LGBTQ+ Americans who have served bravely in our armed forces to keep our country sheltered “.

Administration officials would not say why Biden had not acted sooner on a pardon.

This is the third categorical pardon made by Biden – using his pardon powers against a broad group of people convicted of certain crimes – after actions in 2022 and 2023 to pardon people convicted federally of marijuana possession.

The White House estimates that several thousand service members will be covered – most of them convicted before the military implemented its “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in 1993, which made it easier for LGBTQ soldiers to serve if they did not disclose their sexual orientation. This policy was repealed in 2011 when Congress authorized their open military service.

Service members convicted of acts committed without Biden’s consent are not covered by Biden’s pardon application. However, those convicted under other articles of the military justice code that could be used as a pretext to punish or expel LGBTQ troops would have to apply for a pardon through the Justice Department’s normal pardon process.

Biden previously ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs to relocate to provide benefits to service members who were not honorably discharged because of sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status.