BRITAIN: Peter Tatchell Calls For Blanket Pardon For Men Convicted Of Gay Sex

British gay activist Peter Tatchell says his government should issue a blanket pardon for all men convicted of the former crime of homosexual sex, charges that Tatchell says can still follow a person for years.

While the government has no plans to grant pardons, it has announced plans to disregard the offences on criminal records. Currently, they can be viewed on police records and also show up on CRB checks, which are used in some kinds of employment such as working with children or vulnerable people. Mr Tatchell said: “Instead of tinkering with the criminal record system, the government should grant a full pardon to all men convicted of consenting homosexual behaviour that has ceased to be a crime. “In 1989 alone, there were over 2,000 convictions for the consensual gay offence of ‘gross indecency’ – an offence that only applied to sexual contact between men and not to comparable heterosexual behaviour.” He added: This pardon should embrace not just men convicted of sexual acts, but also those who were convicted for mere loitering, chatting up, looking at other men, exchanging names and addresses, aiding and abetting gay sex and the myriad other discriminatory, homophobic laws that remained on the statue book until 2003.”

Tatchell estimates that over the last hundred years, as many as 100,000 British men may have been convicted of homosexual sex.