Ross Wojick said he was surprised to hear that President Joe Biden pardoned former U.S. service members convicted of violating a now-repealed military ban on consensual gay sex, which will clear the way for them to regain lost benefits.
After all, the paralegal specializing in family law thought that after the controversial policy ”don’t ask, don’t tell” was repealed in 2010, many of the roadblocks that LGBTQIA+ military personnel faced were cleared. But he is glad it happened all the same.
“I’m kind of shocked that this is still a thing,” said the 29-year-old Columbia resident, who is gay. “Unfortunately those who were convicted on primitive laws are still suffering, but in the larger public view went unnoticed. This pardon should have happened long ago, but I think it brings awareness to LGBTQ issues that don’t always get to the forefront of the public view.”
Biden said Wednesday that he is “righting a historic wrong” for potentially thousands of military personnel who would be affected. The initial law only covered those still serving in the military, not those who were already out or discharged.
Now, all service members who were convicted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice’s former Article 125, which criminalized sodomy, will receive a pardon. The 1951 law was rewritten in 2013 to prohibit only forcible acts.
Those covered by the pardon will be able to apply to receive proof that their conviction has been erased, petition to have their discharges from the military upgraded and move to recover lost pay and benefits.
The pardon will cover several thousand service members — the majority convicted before the military instituted the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in 1993, according to White House estimates. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” eased the way for LGBTQ troops to serve if they didn’t disclose their sexual orientation. That policy was repealed in 2011, when Congress allowed for their open service in the military.
Service members convicted of nonconsensual acts are not covered by Biden’s pardon action. And those convicted under other articles of the military justice code, which may have been used as a pretext to punish or force out LGBTQ troops, would need to request clemency through the normal Department of Justice pardon process.
“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,” Biden said in a statement. “We have a sacred obligation to all of our service members — including our brave LGBTQI+ 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. Today we are making progress in that pursuit.”
Biden’s announcement during Pride Month felt “pretty good” for Lucas F. Schleusener, CEO of Out in National Security, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering queer national security professionals.
“Righting a historic wrong on this scale is one culmination of decades of advocacy,” Schleusener said. “It’s proof that fighting for what’s right is always worth it.”
The Biden and Obama administrations have “frequently” used Pride Month as a marker for major policy reforms related to the LGBTQIA+ community, according to Schleusener, who said his organization has been fighting for this to happen since its inception six years ago.
“It helps stakeholders work together towards common goals,” he added.
Biden administration officials declined to say why the president did not act on the pardons sooner.
Phillip Westry, executive director of FreeState Justice, a Baltimore-based legal advocacy organization that seeks to improve the lives of low-income LGBTQ Marylanders, called Biden’s pardon a “positive step,” but added that the damage to military personnel has been done.
“There is more that can be done to make those former service members whole. Sadly, service members who were forced out of the military often struggled afterwards,” said Westry.
Veterans account for 3% of the organization’s cases — typically working with the Department of Veterans Affairs regarding their benefits.
“Most veterans don’t know they can request a reinstatement of their benefits,” Westry explained, adding that his organization did a “big push” a couple years ago to get the word out how LGBTQ service members could have their discharge status upgraded and their benefits reinstated.
“Providing these veterans with access to full benefits and services could be transformative and a significant step towards correcting this injustice,” said Lauren Pruitt, legal director for FreeState Justice.
Schleusener points to more things that need to be done, such as codifying transgender military service, establishing standards for nonbinary service, and continuing to train and align personnel policies and medical care with the needs of LGBTQIA+ service members and dependents.
“The Department also needs to continue its work, extending automatic service discharge upgrades to veterans kicked out under policies proceeding, “don’t ask, don’t tell,” he said. “The United States Department of Defense continues to be the single largest employer of LGBTQIA+ Americans, and we remain committed to working with the Department, the White House, and Congress, to make sure that our community is treated with dignity and respect and that past wrongs and harms are corrected and healed.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
