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In The South

LETTER TO EDITOR:

Besi Besemar October 27, 2016

Greens call on Government to apologise t0 victims of historic consensual gay sex convictions.

Cllr Phélim Mac Cafferty
Cllr Phélim Mac Cafferty

Last Friday (October 21) parliamentary legislation that would have wiped clean the criminal records of thousands of gay men was defeated by the Conservative government.

The offences were all from an historic period of time, when being gay was classed as a UK-wide criminal act, and well before the law was changed to be fairer for gay men.

Many of the estimated 50,000 older gay men affected by the proposal live in the Brighton and Hove area, including the Kemptown constituency. In addition to the agreed pardon, this law would have also wiped their “offences,” which all too often made people’s lives unbearable, or worse, destroyed them. It is a matter of shame that this legislation was defeated.

The government throwing out this bill is an insult to the many who over time, will have had unspent convictions on their record, that were passed during an archaic period when gay men were still treated as social pariah. This is a slap in the face for a part of the community who have historically suffered some of the worst oppression from society and who because of their age often experience alienation from the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans) community itself.

Pardons are one thing – but Greens want an official apology for the LGBT community who have had their lives disfigured by reactionary laws over the decades.

I would like to know what justification Mr Kirby, the member of Parliament for Brighton Kemptown, as a senior member of the Conservative government gives for members of his party throwing out this important proposal.

Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty
Green Party Councillor for Brunswick and Adelaide

 

 

 

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