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President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he will pardon U.S. veterans who were convicted by the military under a regulation that allowed people to be kicked out for being gay.
The White House says the move will impact thousands of military veterans, though officials declined to give a specific number.
«Today, I am righting an historic wrong by using my clemency authority to pardon many former service members who were convicted simply for being themselves», Biden said in a statement.
«Despite their courage and great sacrifice, thousands of LGBTQI+ service members were forced out of the military because of their sexual orientation or gender identity», Biden added. «Some of these patriotic Americans were subject to court-martial, and have carried the burden of this great injustice for decades.»
Biden’s clemency of LGBTQ veterans is a symbolic effort to correct for an era when the military prosecuted people under Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which prohibited gay sex. It was in place from 1951 to 2013.
An estimated 100,000 service members since World War II have been kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation, officials say, including more than 13,000 under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy between 1994 and 2011.
