The government in Scotland has issued an official apology to gay men who were convicted of same-sex activity in the past. In doing so, the men or their families will be able to clear their names.
From Reuters:
"It is only right that we address this historic wrong," First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish parliament.
"Discriminatory laws, although abolished, continue to have implications for people to this day," she added. "The wrong has been committed by the state to them, not by the individuals."
She added: "I categorically, unequivocally and wholeheartedly apologize for those laws and for the hurt and the harm they did to so many."
Watching from the gallery, same-sex couples wept, held hands and applauded.
Consensual homosexual acts between men aged over 21 in Scotland were decriminalized in 1981.
"(The) apology will give a great deal of comfort to many who were unjustly prosecuted and will help draw a line, once and for all, under a dark period in Scotland's history," gay rights group Stonewall said in a statement.
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