The president of the United States, Joe Biden, announced this Wednesday the pardon of former soldiers expelled from the Armed Forces and convicted of violating a law that was in force until 2013 and that criminalized consensual sexual relations between people of the same sex.
These restrictions were included in the Uniform Code of Military Justice and for 60 years they meant for hundreds of people – about 2,000, according to sources cited by CNN – the dishonorable expulsion from the Army and the beginning of a judicial process before military authorities.
“A historic mistake,” in the words of Biden, who has lamented that for decades numerous people “were condemned simply for being themselves.” “Despite their courage and great sacrifice, thousands of LGTBIQ+ soldiers were expelled from the Army for their sexual orientation or gender identity,” he lamented in a statement.
The president has pointed out that these “patriots” have “borne the weight of this great injustice for decades”, which is why he has opened the door for them to now request a pardon which, in addition to correcting the sentence, will imply that they have access to certain rights reserved for veterans.
Biden has stressed that, to have “the best fighting force in the world”, the United States must also ensure that “the culture of the Armed Forces reflects the values of an exceptional nation.”
The article now reviled by Biden differs from another law repealed in 2011 and which established that homosexual people could serve in the Armed Forces but not publicly reveal their sexual orientation. More than 14,000 people were separated by this law, known as ‘Don’t ask, Don’t tell’.
