The UK’s Conservative Party has promised posthumous pardons for men convicted of historical gay sex offences. It follows a petition led by relatives of pardoned gay codebreaker Alan Turning for all historic sex offences to be wiped. A 2012 law has already allowed those still living to have their criminal records eradicated. Labour and the Liberal Democrats have already pledged support for expunging all gay sex convictions, and the Conservative Party has now released a new pre-election manifesto which reads: “Our historic introduction of gay marriage has helped drive forward equality and strengthened the institution of marriage. But there is still more to do, and we will continue to champion equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. “We will build on the posthumous pardon of Enigma codebreaker Alan Turing, who committed suicide following his conviction for gross indecency, with a broader measure to lift the blight of outdated convictions of this nature. Thousands of British men still suffer from similar historic charges, even though they would be completely innocent of any crime today. “Many others are dead and cannot correct this injustice themselves through the legal process we have introduced while in government. So we will introduce a new law that will pardon those people, and right these wrongs.” The UK General Election will be held on 7 May.There is also a campaign calling for gay men to be pardoned in New Zealand
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 15th April 2015 - 12:46pm