Scotland to Overturn Homophobic Convictions
Men convicted of same-sex sexual activity under outdated laws to be pardoned
Scottish Parliament by © User:Colin / Wikimedia Commons /
The Guardian reports Scotland has announced that all convictions made under archaic homophobic laws will be overturned.
The announcement was made by Holyrood justice secretary Michael Matheson to the chamber on Tuesday. Matheson said that a Scottish “Turing law” would be brought forward that will give automatic pardon to gay and bisexual men who have been convicted of sexual offenses considered no longer criminal.
Alan Turing was an English computer scientist who was charged with gross indecency for same-sex relations after he helped break the German Enigma code during WWII. He was granted a posthumous pardon in 2013 and a law has been put forward in England to grant pardons to all men who have been charged for the same.
Consensual sex between men was decriminalized in Scotland in 1980 while the age of consent for same-sex sexual activity was equalized for sexual activity between men and women in 2001.
Although gay rights are being recognized in most countries around the world, same sex relations in Middle Eastern countries and Muslim dominated ones are still illegal and taboo. In Thailand, marriages between people of the same gender are not recognized but same sex relations are legal.
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