How troops convicted under a gay sex ban can apply for a pardon from Biden. Will benefits follow?

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that troops who were convicted under an old military policy criminalizing consensual gay sex would receive full pardons — a move that could restore their discharges from military service to an honorable status and pave the way for benefits.

Potentially thousands of veterans are affected, but many questions remain about the policy that the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs must work through.

Bad discharges cost service members years of benefits for home loans, educational benefits and medical care, and it’s not clear whether the government will try to find a way to compensate for those costs or how it might set benefits from this point forward.

Here’s a look at how the policy has changed, how veterans can apply for the pardons and what questions still need to be answered:

Who is affected?

In December 2013, Congress removed a provision from the Uniform Code of Military Justice that had criminalized sodomy between two consenting adults. The provision, under Article 125, had been in place since 1951 and resulted in the convictions and discharges of an estimated 2,000 service members, said Rachel Branaman, a spokeswoman for the Modern Military Association of America, an advocacy organization of LGBTQ+ service members, military spouses, veterans, their families and allies.

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