总统乔 拜登周三宣布,他赦免了被军方定罪的美国退伍军人,这些退伍军人根据一项允许人们因同性恋而被驱逐的法规被定罪。
白宫在一份声明中说声明宣布赦免的决定将影响数千名退伍军人，但官员拒绝透露具体数字。
拜登在声明中说:“今天，我正在纠正一个历史性的错误，利用我的赦免权赦免了许多仅仅因为做自己而被定罪的前军人。”他称这是一次“完全、彻底和无条件的赦免。”
“尽管他们的勇气和巨大的牺牲，数以千计的LGBTQI+服务成员被迫离开军队，因为他们的性取向或性别认同，拜登补充说。一些爱国的美国人被送上了军事法庭，几十年来他们一直背负着这种不公正的负担。"
拜登对性少数群体退伍军人的仁慈是一种象征性的努力，以纠正一个时代，当时军方根据《军事司法统一法典》第125条起诉人们，该条款禁止同性恋性行为。它从1951年到2013年一直存在。
官员们表示，自第二次世界大战以来，估计有10万名服役人员因其性取向被开除出军队，其中包括1994年至2011年间根据“不问，不说”政策被开除的1.3万多人。
向被定罪的人提供宽大处理的实际影响是，它可以让退伍军人利用他们被剥夺的福利，如军人养老金、住房贷款和大学学费福利。
但退伍军人的定罪不会自动被抹去——他们必须申请并通过军方批准程序。
“一旦他们申请赦免证书，他们就可以利用赦免证书向有关军事部门申请改变他们的退伍性质。一名高级政府官员周二在与记者的电话会议上表示:“他们中的许多人应该在未来获得关键的福利。”
当被问及政府是否正在联系退伍军人，这些人可能在几十年前就已经退伍，不知道他们的指控可以被撤销时，一名官员不愿透露细节，但表示白宫和国务院退伍军人事务部正在制定计划。
周三的声明紧随多项其他努力之后，因为“不问，不说”被废除，以解决所遭受的不公正性少数群体服务成员.
例如，自2012年以来，被开除的服役人员可以向军事委员会申请升级官方记录的机会，以消除对性取向的提及，并有资格获得更多福利。
但据五角大楼称，只有四分之一的合格退伍军人这样做了。
2023年，拜登政府宣布，军方将首次开始主动审查退伍记录，以确定和帮助那些被踢出局但没有站出来的人。但是，这也需要退伍军人申请更改他们的记录。
退伍军人倡导者批评基于申请的救济阻碍太大，让退伍军人承担纠正军队错误的责任，限制了政策的范围。
President Biden pardons veterans convicted under regulation used to keep LGBTQ members from serving
PresidentJoe Bidenannounced Wednesday that he has pardoned U.S. veterans who were convicted by the military under a regulation that allowed people to be kicked out for being gay.
The White House said in astatementannouncing the pardons that the decision will impact thousands of veterans, though officials declined to give a specific number.
"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 the statement, calling it a "full, complete and unconditional pardon."
"Despite their courage and great sacrifice, thousands ofLGBTQI+service members were forced out of the military because of their sexual orientation or gender identity," Biden added. "Some of these patriotic Americans were subject to court-martial, and have carried the burden of this great injustice for decades."
Biden's clemency of LGBTQ veterans is a symbolic effort to correct for an era when the military prosecuted people under Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which prohibited gay sex. It was in place from 1951 to 2013.
An estimated 100,000 service members since World War II have been kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation, officials say, including more than 13,000 under the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy between 1994 and 2011.
The practical impact of offering clemency to people who were convicted is that it could allow veterans to take advantage of benefits they've been denied, such as military pensions, home loans and college tuition benefits.
But veterans will not automatically have their convictions wiped – they have to apply and go through a military approval process.
"Once they apply for that certificate of pardon, they can then use that certificate of pardon to apply to have their discharge characterization changed with the relevant military branch. And that for many of them should unlock, down the road, access to critical benefits," a senior administration official said on a call with reporters on Tuesday.
Asked if the administration is doing outreach to contact veterans who might've been discharged from the military decades ago and are unaware they can have their charges wiped, an official was sparse on details but said the White House and the Department ofVeteransAffairs are working on plans.
Wednesday's announcement comes on the heels of multiple other efforts since Don't Ask, Don't Tell was repealed to address the injustices endured byLGBTQ service members.
Since 2012, for example, service members who were kicked out have been able to apply to a military board for a chance to have official records upgraded to remove references to sexual orientation and qualify for more benefits.
But only one-in-four eligible veterans has done so, according to the Pentagon.
And in 2023, the Biden administration announced that the military would for the first time begin proactively reviewing discharge records to identify and help those who were kicked out and have not come forward. But that, too, required veterans to apply for their records to be altered.
Veteran advocates have criticized application-based relief as too obstructive, putting the onus on veterans to fix the military's wrongs and limiting the reach of the policy.
