Thousands of gay men convicted of historic sex offenses to be posthumously pardoned
LONDON -- Thousands of gay and bisexual men convicted of now-abolished sexual offences will be pardoned by the UK government, the Ministry of Justice has announced.
The law has been dubbed the "Alan Turing Law," named after World War II Enigma code breaker who was prosecuted for "gross indecency" in 1952 for having a same-sex relationship, when homosexuality was illegal in the UK.
Under the new law, people convicted for consensual same-sex relationships when homosexuality was illegal will be formally pardoned.
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People convicted of "gross indecency" can apply through the Home Office to have their names cleared through something called the "disregard process." This process deletes any mention of the offence from a person's criminal record.
The law will posthumously pardon 59,000 men convicted of the charge who have since died, and the 16,000 men still living can apply for the disregard process.
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The government also announced it will introduce a new statutory pardon for the living for cases where offences have been deleted through the aforementioned process.
"It is hugely important that we pardon people convicted of historical sexual offences who would be innocent of any crime today," Justice Minister Sam Gyimah said in a statement.
"Through pardons and the existing disregard process we will meet our manifesto commitment to put right these wrongs," Gyimah continued.
According to gay rights charity Stonewall, the new law could mean playwright Oscar Wilde should be entitled to a pardon.
Following Turing's prosecution, the codebreaker -- who was responsible for decrypting Nazi messages -- accepted chemical castration as an alternative to going to prison. Two years after his prosecution, Turing died by suicide.
He is believed to have shortened the Second World War by more than two years and saved over fourteen million lives. Winston Churchill described his work on the Enigma code "the single biggest contribution to the allied victory" of the Second World War.
Some people have taken to Twitter to express their delight at the passing of the law.
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But, others feel the passing of the law is not enough.
A man who was convicted of gross indecency with a man in 1974 told the BBC that he wants an apology, not a pardon. During an interview, George Montague said that while he couldn't be happier about the move, he could not accept a pardon because he felt it suggests he was guilty.
"I was not guilty of anything. I was only guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Montague said.
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Gay rights charity Stonewall also believes the pardon isn't enough.
"We welcome the government announcement to issue a posthumous pardon to all gay and bi men unjustly prosecuted for being who they are, but we don't think it goes far enough," Paul Twocock -- director of campaigns, policy and research at Stonewall -- said in a statement emailed to Mashable.
Topics LGBTQ Social Good
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
