Wiremu Demchick collects signatures at the Big Gay Out A petition has been tabled in parliament calling on requesting a law change allowing the reversal of historic convictions for consensual same-sex encounters stemming from pre-Homosexual Law Reform laws. Before 1986 gay sex between men was illegal and as many as 400 men may have been convicted of of offenses which would not be illegal in these more enlightened times. The petition, in the name of legal activist Wiremu Demchick was signed by 2,100 people and was tabled by gay Greens MP Kevin Hague. Hague says people "who were convicted under historic immoral laws should not have to live with those convictions on their records today... many people still live with this hanging over their head." However Justice minister Amy Adams says blanket quashing of the convictions would not be possible and addressing cases individually would be "very difficult."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 7th July 2016 - 7:53pm