Oscar Wilde among thousands pardoned by UK gov for same sex relationships

A statue of Oscar Wilde in Dublin.

Irish writer Oscar Wilde may be among thousands of gay and bisexual men pardoned posthumously for engaging in consensual same-sex relationships.
The famous playwright and author stands to have his criminal record wiped clean as part of a new initiative announced by the UK Department of Justice that will pardon those who were once convicted of sexual offenses that are no longer illegal. UK Justice Minister Sam Gyimah announced that a clause would be introduced to the policing and crime bill to allow for the pardon of some 59,000 deceased men found guilty of these now outdated crimes.
Consensual sexual acts between men over the age of 21 were not decriminalized in England and Wales until 1967, not being applied in Scotland until 1980 or Northern Ireland until 1982.
In a symbolic gesture, however, the Department announced Thursday that if a historical homosexual crime is no longer illegal in the UK and involved a consensual sexual act with another over the age of 16, the crime will now be deemed posthumously pardoned.
No individual case or name will be singled out, but Wilde’s is one of the best known. He was sentenced to two years of hard labor in Reading prison after his 1895 conviction for gross indecency. The evidence brought against him included that of him procuring male prostitutes.

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