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Between 1951 and 2013 approximately 2000 service members were convicted of consensual homosexual acts deemed illegal under UCMJ. On Wed, President Biden will extend clemency to these veterans.
The pardons do not change their discharge statuses however the military is reviewing all discharges regarding gay military members
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I honestly can't believe that this didn't occur under Obama. Regardless, as stated above this is long overdue.
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(06-26-2024, 09:36 AM)HarleyDog Wrote: Curious question: Were some of these soldiers arrested? Using words like clemency and pardon reads as if some were? Also, I wonder what the majority of the discharge statuses were. I think dishonorable would be unfair, so hoping general.
There were thousands of dishonorable discharges if people admitted to being gay or attempting homosexual acts
Arrests and convictions did occur for people engaging and being caught in homosexual acts. Those are the approximately 2000 people getting pardoned. The pardons will forgive the convictions but can not change the discharge status. A different commission in the DOD is looking at those for everyone
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Didn’t realize anyone actually got criminal charges. Glad they get pardoned.
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