Parliament says sorry to gay men

Parliament will issue a formal apology to men convicted of homosexual crimes under old laws.

Justice Minister Amy Adams will move the apology during the first reading of a bill to expunge the crimes from the record this afternoon.

The motion will read: ‘‘I move that this House apologise to those homosexual New Zealanders who were convicted for consensual adult activity, and recognise the tremendous hurt and suffering those men and their families have gone through, and the continued effects the convictions have had on them.’’

All parties in Parliament will be given the opportunity to speak on the motion.

Adams’ Criminal Records (Expungement of Convictions for Historical Homosexual Offences) Bill was announced in February and introduced to Parliament in late June.

It will set up a system where men charged with consensual homosexual conduct (or their families) under old laws can apply to have those convictions wiped from the record.

The Justice Ministry believes there are about 1000 of these men still alive.

It is the first ‘‘expungement scheme’’ introduced in New Zealand.

Homosexual sex was legalised in 1986 after a firestorm of protests and counter-protests, convictions still stand.

The move to expunge the convictions came after a petition was presented to MPs last year.

When Adams introduced the legislation she indicated she would speak to other political parties about the motion of apology.

Veteran LGBT activist Bill Logan, who was a pivotal figure in the campaign to decriminalise homosexuality in the 1980s, said the apology and pardon were ‘‘the least’’ the Government could do.

‘‘So many people were forced into unnecessarily small lives. The hurt was enormous.

‘‘The number of lives which were completely wrecked by these laws, which were a reflection of social attitudes at the time. Parliament was a part of that.’’

Logan said most of the people affected would be long dead and those remaining would likely prefer to not come forward.

‘‘It’s better that there is a process than there isn’t.’’

People who had been convicted often had trouble holding down employment, even after the law was repealed.

Logan has called for some kind of financial compensation – something Prime Minister Bill English has ruled out.

‘‘We can always find plenty of money to bail out banks when they collapse,’’ said Logan.

‘‘But we can’t seem to find money for the actual social debts that we have for being evil to people.’’ but the