https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-lgbtq-military-pardon/
Biden pardons LGBTQ+ service members convicted for sexual orientation
By Kathryn Watson, Kristin Brown
Updated on: June 26, 2024 / 8:06 PM EDT / CBS News
拜登赦免因性取向被定罪的 LGBTQ+ 军人
President Biden pardoned LGBTQ+ service members who were convicted of a crime un
der military law based on their sexual orientation on Wednesday, a move that is
expected to affect thousands of service members who were convicted over the six
decades that military law formally banned consensual homosexual conduct.
"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," th
e president said in a statement. "Our nation's service members stand on the fron
tlines of freedom, and risk their lives in order to defend our country. Despite
their courage and great sacrifice, thousands of LGBTQI+ service members were for
ced out of the military because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Some of these patriotic Americans were subject to court-martial, and have carrie
d the burden of this great injustice for decades."
Beginning in 1951, the Uniform Code of Military Justice Article 125 explicitly c
riminalized consensual "sodomy," until Congress and President Barack Obama decri
minalized same-sex relationships through the National Defense Authorization Act
for fiscal year 2014. But the effects of those convictions have lingered for tho
se veterans, leaving criminal records and the stain of a dishonorable discharge,
as CBS News has recently reported.
The military code is separate from, but related to, the infamous "Don't Ask, Don
't Tell" policy adopted during the Clinton years and repealed during the Obama y
ears. That policy banned openly gay and lesbian Americans from serving in the mi
litary.
The announcement doesn't automatically change these veterans' records. They will
still have to apply for and complete a process, senior administration officials
said. Eligible service members and veterans must apply for a certificate of par
don, which they can use to get their discharge status changed. That change of st
atus will unlock veterans benefits that many of them have been denied. Officials
aren't sure how long the process could take, or whether those who qualify will
be eligible for back pay.
It's unclear why the president is only now pardoning LGBTQ+ service members, sin
ce he's had the opportunity to do so for nearly three and a half years. Senior a
dministration officials struggled to respond to that discrepancy in a call previ
ewing the pardons.
"The president is committed to righting historic wrongs when he has the opportun
ity to do so," one official told reporters.
The president's pardon comes on one of the final days of Pride Month.
"We have a sacred obligation to all of our service members — including our brav
e LGBTQ+ service members: to properly prepare and equip them when they are sent
into harm's way, and to care for them and their families when they return home,"
the president said in his statement. "Today, we are making progress in that pur
suit."
Lawmakers want oversight of Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" discharge review
LGBTQ+ service members and their families have had to fight for benefits from th
eir discharges. A federal judge in San Francisco last week refused to dismiss a
lawsuit claiming the military violated the constitutional rights of tens of thou
sands of LGBTQ+ veterans by failing to grant them honorable discharges when they
were barred from serving over their sexual orientation.
Steve Marose was in the Air Force in the late 1980s before the military found ou
t he was gay and then put him on trial. He faced 17 years in prison on a sodomy
charge and a charge of conduct unbecoming of an officer, and ultimately was sent
enced to two years in a military prison.
"I thought my military life was over," he told CBS News last year. "But in that
moment, I thought my life was over."
Jocelyn Larkin, an attorney for the Impact Fund, which is representing a group o
f LGBTQ veterans who were kicked out of the military because of their sexual or
ientation in a lawsuit against the Pentagon, told CBS News that Wednesday's acti
on is a "wonderful step forward."
"But there's so much more work to be done," she added. "But we welcome any recog
nition of the injustice that this group of people has been experiencing."
Jim Axelrod and Jessica Kegu contributed reporting.
周三，拜登总统赦免了因性取向而根据军法被定罪的 LGBTQ+ 军人，此举预计将影响到在军
法正式禁止双方同意的同性恋行为的 6 年来被定罪的数千名军人。
总统在一份声明中说：“今天，我利用我的宽大权力赦免了许多仅仅因为做自己而被定罪
的前军人，从而纠正了一个历史性错误。” “我们国家的军人站在自由的前线，冒着生命
危险保卫我们的国家。尽管他们勇敢并做出巨大牺牲，但仍有数千名 LGBTQI+ 军人因为性
取向或性别认同而被迫退出军队。其中一些爱国的美国人受到军事法庭的审判，几十年来一
直承受着这种巨大不公正的负担。
从1951 年开始，《统一军事司法法典》第125 条明确将双方同意的“鸡奸”定为刑事犯罪
，直到国会和总统巴拉克·欧巴马(Barack Obama) 通过2014 财年的《国防授权法案》将同
性关系合法化。
但正如哥伦比亚广播公司新闻最近报导的那样，这些定罪对这些退伍军人的影响一直挥之不
去，留下了犯罪记录和不光彩退伍的污点。
军事法规与克林顿时期采用并在奥巴马时期废除的臭名昭著的“不问，不说”政策是分开的
，但与之相关。 该政策禁止公开的同性恋美国人在军队服役。
该公告不会自动改变这些退伍军人的记录。 高级政府官员表示，他们仍需申请并完成一个
程序。 符合资格的服役人员和退伍军人必须申请赦免证明，他们可以用该证明来改变他们
的退伍状态。 这种身分的改变将释放退伍军人的福利，而他们中的许多人都被拒绝了。 官
员们不确定这个过程需要多长时间，也不确定那些符合资格的人是否有资格获得欠薪。
目前还不清楚为什么总统现在才赦免 LGBTQ+ 军人，因为他已经有近三年半的机会这样做
了。 高级政府官员在预览赦免的电话中难以回应这种差异。
一名官员对记者表示：“总统致力于在有机会时纠正历史性错误。”
总统的特赦是在骄傲月的最后几天之一进行的。
总统说：“我们对所有军人——包括我们勇敢的LGBTQ+ 军人——负有神圣的义务：在他们
被送往危险的地方时为他们做好适当的准备和装备，并在他们回国时照顾他们和他们的家人
。 “今天，我们在这一追求上取得了进展。”
立法者希望监督五角大厦的“不问，不说”退休审查
LGBTQ+ 军人及其家人必须为退伍福利而奋斗。 旧金山的一名联邦法官上周拒绝驳回一项
诉讼，该诉讼称军队侵犯了数万名 LGBTQ+ 退伍军人的宪法权利，因为他们因性取向而被禁
止服役，但未能给予他们光荣退伍的权利。
史蒂夫·马罗斯 (Steve Marose) 于 20 世纪 80 年代末在空军服役，后来军方发现他是
同性恋并对其进行审判。 他因鸡奸罪和与军官行为不符的指控而面临 17 年监禁，最终被
判处两年军事监狱监禁。
“我以为我的军旅生活已经结束了，”他去年告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻。 “但那一刻
，我觉得我的生命结束了。”
影响力基金的律师乔斯林·拉金(Jocelyn Larkin) 代表一群LGBTQ 退伍军人对五角大楼提
起诉讼，这些退伍军人因性取向而被开除。广播公司新闻，周三的行动是“向前迈出的美妙
一步”。
“但是还有很多工作要做，”她补充道。 “但我们欢迎任何对这群人所经历的不公正现象
的认识。”
吉姆·阿克塞尔罗德和杰西卡·科古贡献了报导。
备注：
数千名甲甲把美军当男同俱乐部
，因而犯下1951-2014《统一军事司法法典》第125 条明订的鸡奸罪，
除了被判刑也剥夺退伍军人福利，
现在拜登要赦免这些甲甲...
难怪民调落后川普