MSP Mary: We need to say sorry to families of gay men wronged by law
Thousands of gay and bisexual men are being pardoned after a new law was passed unanimously at Holyrood.
Politicians voted to scrub the records of those convicted of breaching decency laws before they were scrapped.
Men were forbidden from consensual sexual activity in private and kissing in public until 1981.
Paisley- based MSP Mary Fee has says the decision to issue pardons is morally right.
She said:“This bill is a historic and critically important piece of legislation.
“It is right that we acknowledge that Scots law acted in a repressive manner in its treatment of gay men.
“Until recently, the law in Scotland actively criminalised and discriminated against thousands of men on the basis of their sexual orientation.
“The bill admits that the state was unequivocally wrong to treat gay men as criminals.”
Men could even be prosecuted for chatting each other up – known as“importuning”.
Laws were changed 14 years ago leading to decriminalisation in England and Wales.
Ms Fee says ministers must write to the families of deceased men convicted to offer apologies.
She added:“Most important is that each letter will be personally signed by the First Minister, which gives a clear statement that a wrong was done to the family’s relative.
“It is evident that the legacy of convictions, fines and warnings, as a result of the discriminatory laws that prohibited sexual activity between two men in Scotland, has had an enduring, damaging and hurtful impact on thousands of men’s lives.”