President Joe Biden has long touted his bona fides as a staunch ally of the LGBTQ community, and recent actions taken by his administration bolster that notion have left some individuals wondering about the lasting effects of the initiative.
Earlier in June, the Biden administration issued a pardon for gay and lesbian members of the military previously convicted of crimes pursuant to a prior official ban on same-sex activity, as CBS News reports, and those impacted by convictions are now hoping to reap the benefits they say they have been unfairly denied.
The pardon issued by the president is expected to impact thousands of former military members who were convicted over the course of the decades in which the prohibition on consensual same-sex interactions was in effect.
It was back in 1951 that the Uniform Code of Military Justice made “sodomy” a criminal offense, a situation that endured until former President Barack Obama decriminalized such conduct via the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act.
However, the convictions obtained during the preceding years followed veterans for decades, leaving them with criminal histories and dishonorable discharges from the service, which negated their ability to receive the benefits to which they would otherwise have been entitled.
In a statement explaining the pardon decision, Biden said, “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.”
“Our nation's service members stand on the frontlines of freedom, and risk their lives in order to defend our country. 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. Some of these patriotic Americans were subject to court-martial, and have carried the burden of this great injustice for decades,” the president lamented.
As the Associated Press notes, the pardon will be granted to all service members convicted under former Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which now prohibits only forcible acts of sexual conduct.
Anyone falling under the presidential pardon will now be able to request proof that their conviction has been erased, they will be able to seek an upgrade to their discharge status, and they can also seek to recover pay and benefits lost as a result of their prior status.
Biden's move was seen as particularly meaningful in that it took place during Pride Month and just before a key fundraising event with LGBTQ supporters in New York.
As CNN reports, though many who were convicted under the previous legal framework are pleased about the administration's action, they are unsure about whether they will get the relief and vindication they believe they deserve due to administrative hurdles standing in the way.
Christine Bhageloe, an attorney with the Veterans Consortium's discharge upgrade arm said cautiously, “Right now, even with the pardon, the burden of proof and the burden to reach and out ago through this process is completely on the veteran, and I don't think that's fair.”
She added, “I hold out hope that the White House will work with the Department of Defense and then just make this an automatic or easy process, rather than making veterans jump through more hoops.”
For that to happen, however, it would seem that Biden's gesture would need to have been intended as a substantive one rather than as a performance, campaign season stunt, and only time will tell which is the case.
