Thousands of gay men in the UK pardoned for past convictions of gross indecency & buggery

So our friends in the UK have once again done the right thing after the decriminalization of buggery by parliament when acts linked homosexuality under the Sexual Offences Act 1967, I am happy for them but one wonders when we will have such sensible actions here in Jamaica. An Act to amend the law of England and Wales relating to homosexual acts. The Sexual Offences Act 1967 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom (citation 1967 c. 60) decriminalized homosexual acts in private between two men, both of whom had to have attained the age of 21. Years later the ages of consent were consolidated to 16 after several protests and advocacy from folks such as Peter Tatchell. 

The man who wrote the nonsensical legislation some 486 years ago which still haunts us as Commonwealth countries who still hang on to it for dear life after numerous amendments, pursuant to the protestant reformation, also see: The Buggery Act in the early years (England under Henry VIII)

Sir John Wolfendale whose 1957 report in the UK said the law should not be in consenting male's bedrooms

meanwhile in this development the BBC reported:

Thousands of gay and bisexual men found guilty of decades-old sexual offences in England and Wales have been posthumously pardoned.

The enactment by the government of the so-called Alan Turing law means about 49,000 men will be cleared of crimes of which they would be innocent today.

Wartime code-breaker Turing was pardoned in 2013 for gross indecency.

Statutory pardons will also be granted to people still living who apply to have their convictions removed.

The pardons were first announced last year and have now been officially rubber-stamped after the Policing and Crime Bill received Royal Assent.

The men were found guilty of committing now-abolished offences while in consensual relationships.

Justice minister Sam Gyimah said it was a "truly momentous day".

He said: "We can never undo the hurt caused, but we have apologised and taken action to right these wrongs."

Mathematician Turing was given a royal pardon in 2013, nearly 60 years after his suicide in 1954.

'Important milestone'

The pardon addressed his 1952 conviction for gross indecency, after which he was chemically castrated.

This followed an official apology by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2009 for how Alan Turing had been treated.

His relatives later mounted a high-profile campaign to secure pardons for other men similarly convicted under historical indecency laws.

Laws against homosexual activity before 1967

Gross indecency with another man: introduced in 1885 and used to prosecute men where sodomy could not be proven

Buggery: first used as an offence in 1533 and remained a capital punishment crime until the 19th Century

(Source: Sexual Offence Act 1956, England and Wales)

Gay rights charity Stonewall said: "Another important milestone of equality has been secured in law.

"The more equality is enshrined into our law books, the stronger our equality becomes, and the stronger we as a community become."

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Sharkey, whose amendment to the Policing and Crime Bill was instrumental in securing the change, said it was a "wonderful thing" that Mr Turing's pardon could be extended to other men "unjustly convicted".

'Grave injustices'

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: "Although it comes too late for those convicted, the friends and relatives of the thousands of people who suffered under this unfair and discriminatory law will now have a weight lifted off their shoulders."

Rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said the pardon was an "important, valuable advance that will remedy the grave injustices suffered by many of the estimated 50,000 to 100,000 men who were convicted under discriminatory anti-gay laws".

But he said it was "unclear" whether only the relatives of a deceased man could apply for a pardon on their behalf.

"Many convicted men were rejected and disowned by their families," he said.

"The government should make it clear that any concerned person, including personal friends, can apply for a pardon for a deceased person."

ENDS

also hear an old podcast I had done on the issue:

I hope some of us learn that it is time to move away from the holding on to a law that has no bearing in today's world. The timing of this development could not have been more opportune as the submissions for the the Sexual Offences Bill locally are opened presently as a previous post indicates.

Peace & tolerance

H