We’re sorry: MPs pass clean-slate law for gay men
Men found guilty of homosexual offences can have their convictions expunged under a bill passed by Parliament last night.
It’s believed more than 1000 gay men were convicted and shamed before homosexuality was legalised in 1986, and in July last year Parliament formally apologised to them.
MPs unanimously passed the measure that gives gay men the right to apply for their convictions to be expunged.
Justice Minister Andrew Little acknowledged the apology, introduced by the previous Government, and added his own:
“On behalf of this House and all members who have passed through it since it was established, sorry to those men who have carried the stigma and the shame of doing nothing other than expressing their love for the person that they did love, and for the families who shared that shame and embarrassment.”
National’s Chris Bishop said it was 32 years since homosexual law reform.
“It’s hard for people of my generation to get their heads around the vitriol, hate and anger of that time — 800,000 people signed a petition asking that the [homosexual law reform] bill should not proceed,” he said.
“It’s hard to understand the hate . . . New Zealand has come a long way since 1986.”
Finance Minister Grant Robertson said he had been able to live his life relatively freely as a homosexual man.
“The fact that we can expunge the convictions today is a mighty step forward, but the constant fear and the reminder of the worthlessness and shame of your mere existence is not something we can put away so easily because it echoes through the generations,” he said. “There is still much more to do — if you are a young trans person you are likely to be subject to discrimination and feel the stigma and hurt these men felt.”
Labour’s Louisa Wall, who brought the gay marriage bill to Parliament, said laws against homosexuality were a crime against humanity.
“Tonight we are ending the remnant of statesponsored homophobia,” she said.
Similar moves have been made in England, Wales and some Australian states.
The New Zealand bill started when IT developer Wiremu Demchick petitioned Parliament in 2016 as well as gathering 2111 signatures for an apology and expungement. Demchick welcomed the final step. The Secretary of Justice will receive applications from people wanting their records wiped and decide whether it meets the test — the test being that the conduct that constituted the offence would not be an offence today.
But a conviction may still have to be declared abroad. If the person was asked if they had been arrested, they would have to say yes.
Homosexual acts between consenting males aged 16 and over was decriminalised in 1986 and Statistics NZ shows nearly 1000 men were convicted of indecency between then and 1965.