An SNP MP has launched a bid to automatically pardon all those cautioned or convicted under homophobic laws no longer on the statute book.
East Dunbartonshire MP John Nicolson hopes that his Private Members' Bill at Westminster can become the “Turing Law”.
It is named after the famous World War Two codebreaker Alan Turing, the subject of the recent Oscar-winning film The Imitation Game.
Mr Turing's work to crack Germany's Enigma machine helped bring the war to an end.
He later took his own life after he underwent chemical castration following a conviction for homosexual activity.
In 2014 he was granted a posthumous royal pardon 59 years after his death.
But the SNP say that it is wrong that thousands of other convicted under the same or similar homophobic laws have not been granted a pardon and apology.
Mr Nicolson said: "The criminalisation of thousands of gay and bisexual men, who were cautioned, convicted, imprisoned and even castrated under homophobic laws that banned sex between consenting adult men is a blemish on our history that we must now apologise and atone for as a society.
“While nothing we do now can fully make amends for the cruel discrimination that these men suffered, I hope that this Bill goes some way towards redressing these wrongs and gives a sense of closure for these men and their families.”
A number of his party colleagues have also put forward Private Members' Bill.
A total of 458 MPs put their names forward for 20 slots.
Eilidh Whiteford, the MP for Banff and Buchan, has tabled a Bill that would force the UK to ratify the Istanbul convention on tackling domestic violence.
Mhairi Black, the Paisley MP, has put forward a PMB requiring that the circumstances of benefits claimants are considered before sanctions can be applied.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel