How troops convicted under a gay sex ban can apply for a pardon from Biden. Will benefits follow?
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that troops have been convicted under a long-standing military policy that criminalizes consensual gay sex would receive a full pardon â a move that could give their discharge from military service an honorable status and pave the way for benefits.
Thousands of veterans may be affected, but many questions remain about what policies the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs should implement.
Bad layoffs cost service members years of home loan benefits, education benefits and medical care, and it is not clear whether the government will try to find a way to offset these costs or how it can deliver benefits from this point.
Here’s how the policy has changed, how veterans can apply for pardons, and what questions still need to be answered:
In December 2013, Congress repealed a provision in the Uniform Code of Military Justice that criminalized sodomy between two consenting adults. The provision, under Section 125, had been in effect since 1951 and had resulted in the convictions and discharges of an estimated 2,000 service members, said Rachel Branaman, spokeswoman for the Modern Military Association of America, an advocacy group for LGBTQ+ service members, service members and service spouses, veterans, their families and allies.
The total number of those affected â including service members who may have been targeted because of sexual orientation but discharged for other issues â could be much higher, she said. Although the act was no longer criminalized in the UCMJ after 2013, military personnel previously prosecuted and discharged under Article 125 continued to face the consequences of having these military convictions on their records.
Service members discharged before 2013 for a violation of Article 125 may apply for a pardon. The Pentagon launched a web page on Wednesday with links to apply and instructions on how to pursue each case.
Not everyone qualifies for this Biden’s proclamation. Exceptions include if the act was consensual during an adulterous relationship with the spouse of another service member or when an imbalance of power casts doubt on whether the act was consensual, such as between a recruiter and a potential recruit.
The The Pentagon portal has the guidelines for eligibility and a pardon application, which affected veterans must submit to the military branch in which they served.
While Biden’s proclamation technically pardoned all people who met its terms, former military personnel must still have their records verified by the military branch in which they served in order to obtain proof from the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney that they were pardoned.
This is important because it allows the affected veteran’s record to be corrected in the paperwork used when applying for loans, credit, employment or positions of trust.
The pardon does not mean the conviction is expunged from the person’s record; both the condemnation and the pardon will be visible. A further step to have the file expunged would have to be pursued in court.
The affected veteran will therefore have to submit a separate application to his military branch correct military dataincluding an upgrade or correction of a discharge.
Branaman said that while this was a positive step, it does put the burden on veterans to work to remove a belief they should not have faced, adding that the government must find a way to stop the process streamline.
The convictions have had potentially life-changing consequences, as those former service members were unable to access Veterans Affairs benefits. including a path to home loans, which could have cost them the opportunity to create generational wealth or go to school, Branaman said.
On a call with reporters Tuesday, two senior Biden administration officials could not answer whether the pardons could result in back payments or restitution for those affected.
âWe don’t know what will happen retroactively,â Branaman said.