President Joe Biden announced he will pardon thousands of gay veterans convicted under a now-repealed military law that banned gay sex. Biden said he was 'righting a historic wrong by using my clemency authority to pardon many former service members who were convicted simply for being themselves,' calling the law 'a great injustice.'
This act of clemency means that thousands of military personnel who were convicted over six decades for engaging in consensual sexual intercourse with someone of the same sex would be able to apply for a certificate of pardon that would help them gain access to benefits that were previously withheld.
The previous law was the Uniform Code of Military Justice article 125, which made sodomy a crime. Article 125 was on the books from 1951 to 2013, when it was rewritten by Congress to only apply to forcible acts.
The change came three years after Congress repealed 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' the Clinton-era law that said that LGBTQ+ individuals were allowed in the military under the condition they did not discuss or even reveal their sexuality.
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