WASHINGTON D.C. — (06-25-24) — President Joe Biden has decided to pardon gay military veterans who were convicted under the US Military’s former sodomy law that criminalized gay sex among service members. The pardon proclamation, which will grant clemency to over 2,000 former servicemen, is expected to be announced on Wednesday at the White House.

The proclamation will enable former gay soldiers who were convicted under the military’s former sodomy law to apply for a formal certificate of pardon, which will help clear their records and allow them to receive long withheld veteran’s benefits.

The military ban on sodomy, including consensual gay sex, ran from 1951 until the law was rewritten by Congress in 2013. That revision came two years after then-President Barack Obama repealed the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which banned openly LGBT Americans from enlistment.

Troops who were court-martialed for engaging in gay sex were given routinely given a bad-conduct discharge from the military, making them ineligible for such benefits as pensions, education subsidies and Veteran’s Administration home loans.

President Biden’s pardon proclamation will not apply to service members who were convicted of non-consensual sex acts.

Naturally Republicans are against anything that benefits the LGBT community, even men who put their lives on the line for their freedom to be bigots.

Article by: Paul Goldberg, Staff Writer

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