SNP WELCOMES SCOTTISH ‘TURING LAW

Under new Scottish Government’s proposed legislation all those who have convictions for same-sex sexual activity that is now lawful will automatically be pardoned. Separately the Scottish Government has also been engaging with Police Scotland over the summer to identify the most effective way to ensure those convictions no longer appear on a person’s criminal record.

Commenting John Nicolson MP said:

“This is a very welcome announcement from the Scottish Government and an historic moment for LGBTI equality in Scotland.

“We have made huge progress towards achieving LGBTI equality in recent years, with improvements in laws and attitudes that have seen Scotland now become the best country in Europe for LGBTI legal rights.

“Despite this welcome and hard-won progress we must never forget the appalling way that LGBTI people have been treated in the UK in our recent past.

“The criminalisation of gay and bisexual men, who were cautioned and convicted under homophobic laws that banned sex between consenting adult men is a blemish on our history and it is right that we now address this injustice with a full and automatic pardon, and a system that allows people to have these discriminatory convictions removed from their records.

”While there is still more to do before LGBTI people will have full equality, this is an important step towards the fair and equal Scotland we all want to see.”