Biden pardons potentially thousands of ex-service members convicted under now-repealed gay sex ban

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is pardoning potentially thousands of former U.S. service members convicted of violating a now-repealed military ban on consensual gay sex. The president says he is “righting an historic wrong” to clear the way for these service members to regain lost benefits. Biden’s action grants a pardon to those who were convicted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice’s former Article 125, which criminalized sodomy. The law had been on the books since 1951 but was rewritten in 2013 to prohibit only forcible acts. The president is exercising his pardon powers during Pride Month (June 2024). He is working to rally support within the Democratic-leaning LGBTQ community ahead of the presidential election.