Biden pardoning LGBTQ+ service members convicted for sexual orientation

President Biden is pardoning LGBTQ+ service members who were convicted of a crime under military law based on their sexual orientation, he is expected to announce Wednesday. The Biden administration estimates the move will affect "thousands" of service members convicted over the six decades that military law formally banned consensual homosexual conduct, senior administration officials told reporters on a call Tuesday. 

"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," the president said in a statement. "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."

Beginning in 1951, the Uniform Code of Military Justice Article 125 explicitly criminalized consensual "sodomy," until Congress and President Barack Obama decriminalized same-sex relationships through the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2014. But the effects of those convictions have lingered for those veterans, leaving criminal records and the stain of a dishonorable discharge, as CBS News has recently reported.