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+ 軍人
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't Tell" policy adopted during the Clinton years and repealed during the Obama y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.
週三，拜登總統赦免了因性取向而根據軍法被定罪的 LGBTQ+ 軍人，此舉預計將影響到在軍
法正式禁止雙方同意的同性戀行為的 6 年來被定罪的數千名軍人。
總統在一份聲明中說：“今天，我利用我的寬大權力赦免了許多僅僅因為做自己而被定罪
的前軍人，從而糾正了一個歷史性錯誤。” 「我們國家的軍人站在自由的前線，冒著生命
危險保衛我們的國家。儘管他們勇敢並做出巨大犧牲，但仍有數千名 LGBTQI+ 軍人因為性
取向或性別認同而被迫退出軍隊。其中一些愛國的美國人受到軍事法庭的審判，幾十年來一
直承受著這種巨大不公正的負擔。
從1951 年開始，《統一軍事司法法典》第125 條明確將雙方同意的「雞姦」定為刑事犯罪
，直到國會和總統巴拉克·歐巴馬(Barack Obama) 通過2014 財年的《國防授權法案》將同
性關係合法化。
但正如哥倫比亞廣播公司新聞最近報導的那樣，這些定罪對這些退伍軍人的影響一直揮之不
去，留下了犯罪記錄和不光彩退伍的污點。
軍事法規與克林頓時期採用並在奧巴馬時期廢除的臭名昭著的“不問，不說”政策是分開的
，但與之相關。 該政策禁止公開的同性戀美國人在軍隊服役。
該公告不會自動改變這些退伍軍人的記錄。 高級政府官員表示，他們仍需申請並完成一個
程序。 符合資格的服役人員和退伍軍人必須申請赦免證明，他們可以用該證明來改變他們
的退伍狀態。 這種身分的改變將釋放退伍軍人的福利，而他們中的許多人都被拒絕了。 官
員們不確定這個過程需要多長時間，也不確定那些符合資格的人是否有資格獲得欠薪。
目前還不清楚為什麼總統現在才赦免 LGBTQ+ 軍人，因為他已經有近三年半的機會這樣做
了。 高級政府官員在預覽赦免的電話中難以回應這種差異。
一名官員對記者表示：“總統致力於在有機會時糾正歷史性錯誤。”
總統的特赦是在驕傲月的最後幾天之一進行的。
總統說：「我們對所有軍人——包括我們勇敢的LGBTQ+ 軍人——負有神聖的義務：在他們
被送往危險的地方時為他們做好適當的準備和裝備，並在他們回國時照顧他們和他們的家人
。 “今天，我們在這一追求上取得了進展。”
立法者希望監督五角大廈的「不問，不說」退休審查
LGBTQ+ 軍人及其家人必須為退伍福利而奮鬥。 舊金山的一名聯邦法官上週拒絕駁回一項
訴訟，該訴訟稱軍隊侵犯了數萬名 LGBTQ+ 退伍軍人的憲法權利，因為他們因性取向而被禁
止服役，但未能給予他們光榮退伍的權利。
史蒂夫·馬羅斯 (Steve Marose) 於 20 世紀 80 年代末在空軍服役，後來軍方發現他是
同性戀並對其進行審判。 他因雞姦罪和與軍官行為不符的指控而面臨 17 年監禁，最終被
判處兩年軍事監獄監禁。
「我以為我的軍旅生活已經結束了，」他去年告訴哥倫比亞廣播公司新聞。 「但那一刻
，我覺得我的生命結束了。」
影響力基金的律師喬斯林·拉金(Jocelyn Larkin) 代表一群LGBTQ 退伍軍人對五角大樓提
起訴訟，這些退伍軍人因性取向而被開除。廣播公司新聞，週三的行動是“向前邁出的美妙
一步”。
“但是還有很多工作要做，”她補充道。 “但我們歡迎任何對這群人所經歷的不公正現象
的認識。”
吉姆·阿克塞爾羅德和傑西卡·科古貢獻了報導。
備註：
數千名甲甲把美軍當男同俱樂部
，因而犯下1951-2014《統一軍事司法法典》第125 條明訂的雞姦罪，
除了被判刑也剝奪退伍軍人福利，
現在拜登要赦免這些甲甲...
難怪民調落後川普