Sun 11 Apr 2010 In: International News View at Wayback View at NDHA
The leader of the UK's Conservative Party David Cameron is pledging to erase the historic convictions of all those found guilty of consensual gay sex if his party is elected. It came in response to a series of questions submitted by PinkNews.co.uk readers. The website reports gay rights campaigners have welcomed the announcement, while the Liberal Democrats say they too will erase similar crimes. In 1994, the age of consent for gay men was reduced from 21 to 18 in the UK, and in 2000, it was reduced further to 16, equalising with the age of consent for straight people. The change in the law was not retrospective, so there are a considerable number of people who are required to disclose that they have a criminal record for a sexual offence, despite the action that they took part in being completely legal now. These convictions need to be disclosed when applying for certain jobs and even for volunteering in hospitals or with children. Cameron's announcement comes less than a week after a PinkNews.co.uk poll found LGBT support for the Conservatives dropped from 25 percent to 20 percent in the space of a month. It had already dropped from 39 percent support over the past year.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Sunday, 11th April 2010 - 3:43pm