President Biden is pardoning veterans convicted under laws that prevent LGBTQ members from serving

President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he had pardoned U.S. veterans convicted by the military under an executive order allowing people to be kicked out for being gay.

In a statement announcing the pardon, the White House said the decision would impact thousands of veterans, though officials declined to provide a specific number.

“Today, I am righting a historic wrong by using my pardon authority to pardon many former service members who were convicted simply for being themselves,” Biden said in a statement, calling it a “full, complete and unconditional pardon.”

“Despite courage and great sacrifice, thousands of LGBTQI+ service members have been forced to leave the military because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” Biden added. “Some of these patriotic Americans were court-martialed and bore the burden of this great injustice for decades.”

Biden’s pardon of LGBTQ veterans is a symbolic effort to correct an era in which the military prosecuted people under Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which prohibited same-sex sex. It existed from 1951 to 2013.

Officials say about 100,000 soldiers have been kicked out of military service since World War II because of their sexual orientation, including more than 13,000 under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in place from 1994 to 2011.

The practical impact of pardoning convicted individuals is that it may allow veterans to take advantage of benefits they have been denied, such as military pensions, home loans and tuition benefits.

However, veterans’ convictions will not be automatically expunged — they must apply and go through the military’s approval process.

“Once they apply for this certificate of pardon, they will be able to use it to apply for a change of discharge characteristics with the appropriate branch of the military. And this should unlock access to key benefits for many of them in the future, a senior administration official said on Tuesday during a conversation with reporters.

Asked whether the administration is trying to contact veterans who may have been discharged from military service decades ago and are unaware they could be expunged, the official did not provide details but said the White House and the Department of Veterans Affairs are working to plans.

Wednesday’s announcement comes on the heels of numerous other actions as the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” initiative was repealed to address injustices experienced by LGBTQ service members.

For example, since 2012, discharged service members can apply to the military commission for the opportunity to update their official records to remove references to sexual orientation and qualify for greater benefits.

But only one in four eligible veterans have done so, according to the Pentagon.

In 2023, the Biden administration announced that the military would, for the first time, begin proactively reviewing discharge records to identify and assist those who were discharged but did not report. But it also required veterans to apply to have their records amended.

Veteran advocates have criticized application-based aid as too obstructive, putting the onus on veterans to fix mistakes made by the military and limiting the policy’s reach.

ABC News’ Devin Dwyer and Sarah Herndon contributed to this report.