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UK to Wipe 16,000 Criminal Records of Gay Men Convicted of Consensual Gay Sex

Posted by on May 2, 2012 in World | 0 comments

Prime Minister David Cameron is following through with a campaign promise to wipe criminal convictions of consensual gay sex and malicious convictions of “loitering with intent” – used in earlier years to specifically target gay men – from 16,000 people’s records.

The move follows decades of incremental decreases in the criminality of homosexual behavior and the age of consent in the UK. 1994 saw the homosexual age of consent reduced from 21 to 18, where it remained until being reduced to 16, the heterosexual age of consent.

The wiping of gay “crimes” is a welcome and timely move in a country where pushes toward civil unions and full gay marriage have been embraced and celebrated.

Peter Tatchell told PinkNews.co.uk today: “It’s estimated that over the last century in the region of 100,000 men in the UK were convicted of consenting same-sex offences that were not crimes between heterosexual men and women. Many had their lives ruined, including serving prison sentences, losing their jobs and suffering rejection by their families.

“This reform is welcome but it will come too late for many of the victims of Britain’s homophobic laws. It’s astonishing to think that the King Henry VIII anti-buggery law and the Oscar Wilde gross indecency law were only repealed in 2003.”

Ben Summerskill, Chief Executive of Stonewall, which gave evidence to the Public Bill Committee considering the Protection of Freedoms Bill, said today: “Victorian morality has absolutely no place in 21st-century Britain.

Men and women charged under the previous homophobic laws may request that their convictions be wiped by the Secretary of State’s office.

This can only mean one thing; This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius! Let the sun shine!

Progress is a process, y’all.

Do you think a similar amnesty will ever happen here in the States?

(via Pink News)