A 70-year-old British man is fighting to have his 1959 conviction for 'buggery' struck from his permanent record. John Crawford says he'd had consensual sex with another man and confessed all to the police after weeks of beatings by police. "The retired butler, now 70, is seeking to clear his name in what he hopes will be a landmark legal campaign against the residual consequences of laws which, although expired, continue to persecute homosexuals," reports The Guardian. Crawford is still required to declare his criminal conviction to any potential bosses, for example recently when he volunteered in a local hospital. Arguing that he is still being discriminated against due to his sexuality, he's prepared to sue the justice department. Homosexual sex was a punishable crime in Britain until 1967.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 16th February 2010 - 5:34pm