2017 Posthumous pardon for English and Welsh men convicted for being gay

2017 Posthumous pardon for English and Welsh men convicted for being gay.

In 2017, the UK government enacted a provision popularly known as the Alan Turing Law, which granted posthumous pardons to thousands of gay and bisexual men convicted under historical laws that criminalised consensual same-sex acts. 

Key Details of the 2017 Pardon

• Legislation: The pardon was formalised through the Policing and Crime Act 2017, which received Royal Assent on 31 January 2017.
• Automatic Posthumous Pardons: Deceased individuals convicted of sexual acts that are no longer criminal—predominantly “gross indecency” and “buggery”—were automatically pardoned.
• Living Individuals: Men still alive are not automatically pardoned but can apply through the Home Office to have their convictions “disregarded.” If successful, a pardon is then automatically granted.
• Scope: The 2017 law initially applied to England and Wales. It only covers consensual acts between adults; it does not apply to non-consensual acts or those involving minors. 

Key Figures and Groups Involved

The pardon followed years of high-profile campaigning by several prominent figures: 

• Alan Turing: The wartime codebreaker, after whom the law is named, received a unique Royal Pardon in 2013 for his 1952 conviction, sparking the movement for a wider law.
• Parliamentary Sponsors: The amendment was primarily proposed by Lord Sharkey (Liberal Democrat), Lord Cashman (Labour), and Lord Lexden (Conservative). John Leech, a former MP, is often cited as the architect of the campaign.
• Government Officials: Sam Gyimah, then Justice Minister, officially announced the government’s support for the pardons.
• Campaigners & Notable Supporters:
  • Stonewall and the charity Unlock.
  • Human rights activist Peter Tatchell.
  • Cultural icons such as Stephen Fry and Benedict Cumberbatch, who signed a petition with over 600,000 signatories.
• Notable Pardoned Figures: Oscar Wilde was among the approximately 49,000–50,000 men posthumously cleared by the act. 

Later Expansions

In 2022, the scheme was expanded by the Home Office to cover a broader range of abolished offences, including military-specific crimes and acts that were not explicitly listed in the 2017 Act. 

The community reaction to the 2017 posthumous pardon, or the Alan Turing Law, was a mixture of celebration for a historic milestone and significant criticism regarding the law’s limitations. 

Positive Reception

• A “Momentous Day”: Many campaigners, including the family of Alan Turing, hailed the law as a “wonderful thing” that finally addressed the systemic injustice against thousands of families.
• Milestone for Equality: Major advocacy groups like Stonewall described it as an “important milestone of equality” and a long-awaited symbolic victory.
• Healing for Relatives: Relatives of those who had died with criminal records reported a sense of a “weight lifted off their shoulders”. 

Key Criticisms and Concerns

• “Pardon” vs. “Apology”: Prominent activists like Peter Tatchell and George Montague argued that a pardon implies forgiveness for a crime, whereas they demanded a government apology to acknowledge that the laws themselves were the actual “wrong”.
• The “Bureaucratic Barrier”: While the dead were pardoned automatically, living men had to apply through a complex Home Office process. Campaigners like Christopher Stacey of Unlock called this a “clear barrier to justice” that forced elderly men to relive their trauma.
• Excluded Offences: The 2017 law initially only covered specific offences like “gross indecency.” It excluded others like “soliciting” or “importuning,” which were often used discriminatorily to target gay men chatting in public. This led to high rejection rates for applicants—roughly 71% in the years following the act.
• Omission of Women: Critics noted that the law focused almost exclusively on men, failing to address how laws like the Public Order Act were used against lesbians for same-sex affection. 

Impact on Policing

The pardon sparked a subsequent movement for police accountability. By 2024–2025, over 20 UK police forces, including the Metropolitan Police, issued formal apologies for their past homophobic enforcement of these laws, a move seen by the community as more “profoundly healing” than the pardon itself. 

2026EXP