Wed 1 Feb 2017 In: International News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Britain has overnight pardoned the thousands of gay and bisexual men who were convicted of having same-sex intimacy under now-defunct laws. Homosexual acts between consenting adult males were decriminalised in Britain in 1967 and the age of consent was dropped to 16, the same as for heterosexuals, in 2001. The Queen has given royal assent to the new law which was passed several months ago. It is called Turing's Law after the brilliant World War II mathematician Alan Turing who took his own life after being stripped of his job and chemically castrated for being convicted of gross indecency in 1952 for having sex with a man. The British pardon will be applied in cases where it can be proved that the sexual act was consensual and the partner was over the age of consent. For those still living, the offences will be removed from any criminal record checks via a "disregard process". "This is a truly momentous day... We can never undo the hurt caused, but we have apologised and taken action to right these wrongs." British Justice Minister Sam Gyimah says. In New Zealand Justice Minister Amy Adams has for years refused to even countenance such a pardon, claiming it would be too difficult to be clear which cases were genuinely consensual and did not involve a minor. However, she recently referred the matter back to her ministry, asking them to investigate ways of facilitating a pardon process. As a result hundreds of gay men are legally required to divulge their conviction and its nature in such situations as job interviews and visa applications even though their 'crime' was decriminalised in 1986.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 1st February 2017 - 8:11am