A US air force veteran who was discharged for being gay and served time in prison for consensual gay sex has expressed his relief at the recent pardon issued by president Joe Biden. Biden published a presidential proclamation on Wednesday (26 June) which issued a “full, complete, and unconditional pardon” to thousands of LGBTQ+ veterans who were convicted under Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which criminalised sodomy, including between consenting adults, between 1951 and 2013. Following news of the pardons, former USAF officer Steve Marose told the BBC: “I can pretend that ‘Oh, I’m resilient,’ you know, ‘I got this’ But in the end, it’s trauma. I’m just glad the day has come.”