Joe Biden has moved to correct a “great injustice” by pardoning thousands of US veterans convicted over six decades under a military law that banned gay sex.

The presidential proclamation, which comes during Pride month and an election year, allows LGBTQ+ service members convicted of crimes based solely on their sexual orientation to apply for a certificate of pardon that will help them receive withheld benefits.

It grants clemency to service members convicted under Uniform Code of Military Justice article 125 – which criminalised sodomy, including between consenting adults – between 1951 and 2013, when it was rewritten by Congress.

That includes victims of the 1950s “lavender scare”, a witch-hunt in which many LGBTQ+ people employed by the federal government were viewed as security risks amid fears their sexual orientation made them vulnerable to blackmail. Thousands were investigated and fired or denied employment.

  • @[email protected]
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    fedilink
    25 months ago

    We don’t even need to build new cities. We just need to let our cities increase density like all cities did for hundreds of years before the 50s. More multifamily buildings, midrise apartments, and mixed use buildings would go a long way towards helping everybody.

    Besides, much of that land is either already owned by somebody or empty for a reason. It would be a logistical nightmare for sure. You could send them to all the dying towns in the US, but I don’t think that would help either - apart from the locals being rightfully angry about large groups of new people coming in and eroding their local culture, those towns are dying for a reason that runs much deeper than just people moving away.

    • @Eldritch
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      English
      45 months ago

      Yes we absolutely need plenty of immigration. The American population has been below replacement on birth rates since the 1970s. With the Boomers going down it’s going to hit the fan real soon but all they want to do is restrict immigrants.

    • @Maggoty
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      25 months ago

      Not sure who downvoted this. But I agree. Immigration is intersectional to all of the stuff we’re already having trouble with. That’s why conservatives go after it so hard. If we stopped blaming immigrants we’d blame the actual culprits and immigration would solve the shortages we can’t get Americans to fill, like geriatric care for the largest generation of seniors ever.