WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Joe Biden has granted pardon to thousands of LGBTQI+ US troops who were convicted under now repealed gay sex ban.
'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 Wednesday.
'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,' he added.
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice Article 125 of 1951, consensual homosexual conduct was a criminal offense. Over the past decades, thousands of American gay service members who were found to have engaged in consensual homosexual act were convicted under the military law.
The law was repealed in 2013.
In his presidential proclamation, Biden said that an applicant for a certificate of pardon should submit an application to the Military Department (Army, Navy, or Air Force) that conducted the court-martial or, in the case of a Coast Guard court-martial, to the Department of Homeland Security.
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