WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that soldiers convicted under a long-standing military policy that criminalizes consensual gay sex would receive full forgiveness – a measure that could restore honorable status to those discharged from military service and pave the way for benefits.
Potentially thousands of veterans are affected, but many questions remain about the policy that the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs should implement.
Incorrect discharges cost service members years of benefits in home loans, educational benefits and health care, and it’s unclear whether the government will try to find a way to offset those costs or how it might define benefits going forward.
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 removed a provision from the Uniform Code of Military Justice that criminalized sodomy between two consenting adults. The provision, under Article 125, had been in effect since 1951 and resulted in the conviction and dismissal of about 2,000 military personnel, said Rachel Branaman, spokeswoman for the Modern Military Association of America, an advocacy organization for LGBTQ+ military and military spouses. , veterans, their families and allies.
The total number of those affected – including military personnel who may have been targeted due to their sexual orientation but discharged for other reasons – could be much higher, she said. Although the act was no longer criminalized in the UCMJ after 2013, military personnel who had been prosecuted under Article 125 before that and discharged still faced the repercussions of having those military convictions on their records.
Military personnel who were discharged due to a violation of Article 125 before 2013 may apply for a pardon. The Pentagon launched a web page on Wednesday with links to sign up and instructions on how to proceed with each case.
Not everyone will qualify under Biden’s proclamation. Exceptions include if the consensual act occurred during an adulterous relationship with another service member’s spouse or when a power imbalance calls into question whether the act was consensual, such as between a recruiter and a potential recruit.
O Pentagon Portal has guidelines for who qualifies and an application for forgiveness, which affected veterans must submit to the military branch in which they served.
While Biden’s proclamation technically pardoned everyone covered by its terms, former military personnel must still have their records checked by the military branch in which they served to obtain evidence from the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney that they have been pardoned. .
This is important because it will allow the affected veteran’s history to be corrected in documentation used to apply for loans, credit, employment, or positions of trust.
A pardon does not mean that the conviction will be removed from the person’s record – both the conviction and the pardon will appear. An additional step to expunge the registry would need to be taken through the courts.
The affected veteran will also need to separately request their military branch to correct military recordsincluding an update or correction of a download.
Branaman said that while this was a positive step, it puts the burden on veterans to work to eliminate a conviction they should not have faced, adding that the administration needs to find a way to expedite the process.
The convictions had potentially transformative repercussions, as former service members were denied access to Veterans Affairs benefits. including a path to home loans, which could have cost them the ability to create generational wealth or attend school, Branaman said.
In a call with reporters on Tuesday, two senior Biden administration officials were unable to answer whether the pardons could result in back payments or restitution for those affected.
“We don’t know what will be retroactive,” Branaman said.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
