Former U.S. Air Force officer Steve Marose was fired for being gay and jailed for consensual sodomy.
“I can pretend ‘Oh, I’m resilient’, you know, ‘I get it’, but ultimately, it’s just trauma,” Mr Maros told the BBC.
He was one of thousands overturned on Wednesday as President Joe Biden announced he would pardon those convicted under a military law that had banned same-sex sex for more than 60 years.
Biden called the pardon “righting a historic wrong.”
“I’m glad this day has come,” Mr. Maros said.
He and other veterans were convicted under a provision of the Uniform Code of Military Justice that criminalized sodomy from 1951 to 2013.
In 2013, the U.S. Congress repealed parts of the law banning consensual sodomy.
The military rule differs from President Bill Clinton’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which barred openly gay Americans from serving in the military.
President Biden said in a statement Wednesday that he was “using [his] The right of clemency to pardon many ex-soldiers who were convicted simply of being themselves”.
“We have a sacred obligation to all service members – including our brave LGBTQ+ service members – to prepare and equip them when they are in danger, and to care for them and their families when they return home,” he said. “.
US media reported that approximately 2,000 people may receive clemency under the president’s proclamation.
The announcement will now allow those affected to apply for a certificate of pardon, after which the service member can change their discharge status.
This would make them eligible for veterans’ benefits that they might have been denied before, although it’s unclear how long that process will take.
Mr. Maros said his conviction in the late 1980s affected his life in many ways.
“It’s a felony record,” he said, adding that he once lost his job with the police department even though he scored well in interviews.
“Every time I change jobs, they do a background check and I have to dig through everything again and show them this is what it is, these are the charges, these are the results,” Mr Maros said. “In this regard, it’s always been bothering me.”
A conviction also means it is difficult to accept tenancy applications and restrictions on foreign travel.
“I can’t get into Canada because they don’t care what your beliefs are,” Mr. Maros said.
On top of that, he said, he would have to repay college tuition to the military and cut his Air Force career short.
Even consensual sodomy was illegal among U.S. military members until President Obama legalized same-sex relations a decade ago through the National Defense Authorization Act.
Obama also repealed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in 2011 and allowed gay and lesbian service members to serve openly in the armed forces.
A CBS News Report Studies have found that an estimated 100,000 LGBT service members were expelled from the U.S. military between World War II and the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Sarah Kate Ellis, chief executive of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, praised the move in a social media post.
“This is an important signal not only to the thousands of brave LGBTQ Americans who should do a better job of defending our country, but to all who understand that diversity, respect and inclusion are American values,” she wrote. It’s an important signal.
According to an analysis by the Center for American Progress, as of 2022, approximately 79,000 LGBT individuals were serving in the U.S. military.
