United States.Biden grants amnesty to veterans punished for their homosexuality

A 1951 law in the military penal code punished homosexuality in the military.Now Biden has granted amnesty to the punished soldiers.

• Article 125 of the military penal code established the prohibition of sexual intercourse between persons of the same sex.
• In 2013 the law was changed, but those who had been punished did not receive any form of compensation.
• Now the thousands of soldiers fired and punished for that rule will be able to return to being veterans in all respects.

The president of United States Joe Biden has granted amnesty to thousands of soldiers convicted of their homosexuality.An article of the military penal code, introduced in 1951 and canceled only in 2013, criminalized sexual orientation in the army and punished it sodomy.Thousands of soldiers were punished on the basis of that provision and this, in addition to their work, also affected access to benefits reserved for soldiers war veterans. Now, with the amnesty granted by Biden, these people will be able to request these privileges.

Against homosexual soldiers

In the 1950s, a crusade against the LGBTIQ+ community spread in the United States took its name Of Lavender scare.Homosexual people within federal institutions became victims of persecution, many were forced to resignation and this also extended to the armed forces.It was the period of McCarthyism and of the communist bogeyman and the LGBTIQ+ community was seen as an expression of progressivism and, therefore, an enemy of the homeland.

In 1951 thearticle 125 of the code of military criminal law, which established the prohibition of sexual intercourse, even consensual, between people of the same sex, using the word "sodomy".Over the decades, thousands of U.S. military personnel have been forced to resign or suffered other forms of punishment for their sexual orientation.Then in 2013, under the presidency of Barack Obama, the rule was effectively cancelled, without however having retroactive effect.

Biden's speech

Now President Joe Biden has spoken on the subject, on the eve of the presidential elections in which he will face Donald Trump and precisely in Pride month.Biden announced theamnesty for all persons punished on the basis of article 125 of the military criminal law code, so that they can apply to access those benefits and advantages granted to veterans from which they have so far been excluded.

“Today I'm correcting a historical wrong using my clemency authority to pardon many ex-servicemen who were convicted simply for being themselves,” he declared Biden, who spoke of a grave injustice.Already last year the US president had spoken of the so-called Lavender scare, defining it as a “shameful chapter” the fact that thousands of federal employees had lost their jobs because of their sexual orientation.Biden, as Obama's vice president, had also played a decisive role in abolition of the law “don't ask don't tell”, which allowed gay people to join the military as long as they did not reveal their sexual orientation.