The Scottish government announced on Tuesday that it will automatically pardon gay and bisexual men who have been prosecuted for same-sex activity.

"There is no place for homophobia, ignorance and hatred in modern Scotland," Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said in a statement outlining the policy.

The new rule was made possible by the Historical Sexual Offences (Pardons and Disregards) Act, which the Scottish Parliament approved in 2018.

"This legislation makes good on the commitments made by the First Minister, who gave an unqualified apology for the now outdated and discriminatory laws, and for the harm they caused to many," he added.

In 2017, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon publicly apologized to men affected by the "historic wrong" that the convictions meant.

Same-sex activity between men was decriminalized in 1980 and much later, in 2001, the age of consent was equalized between gay and heterosexual couples.

Read more:Surviving 'conversion therapy' for LGBT+ people in Germany

But as a result of prior criminalization, thousands of men are believed to have been prosecuted for consensual same-sex contact over the last 150 years, the Equality Network said, adding that hundreds still have this type of criminal record. Same-sex acts between women were never criminalized in many countries, as they were mostly not even recognized as such.

"A conviction like this could have meant the end of your career, it could have meant losing your friends, it could have meant losing your family, all of those huge impacts," Equality Network Director Tim Hopkins told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Under the new bill all those affected will receive a pardon, including those who have passed away, but they must go through an administrative process, which the government has offered free of charge.

England and Wales have passed similar laws, but these have been criticized for their limited scope. Scotland's legal system is separate from that of England and Wales.

100 years of homosexuality in film Different from the Others (1919) Considered the very first film on homosexuality, "Different from the Others" was directed by Richard Oswald, who urged dropping Germany's Article 175, which made homosexuality a criminal offense. Pandemonium broke out at the film's premiere in a Berlin movie theater in 1919, but it wasn't prohibited because film censorship didn't yet exist. Article 175 was repealed decades later — in 1994.

100 years of homosexuality in film The Children’s Hour (1961) Shirley MacLaine plays Martha, a gay grade school teacher who is in love with her colleague, portrayed by Audrey Hepburn. "The Children's Hour" is director William Wyler's second take on the play of the same name by Lilian Hellmann. The first time he filmed the story ("These Three"), he was forced to give it a happy end. In his remake decades later, Martha ends up committing suicide.

100 years of homosexuality in film Death in Venice (1971) Luchino Visconti filmed the novel of that name by Thomas Mann. The protagonist Gustav von Aschenbach, a 50-year-old writer — in the movie, he's a conductor however — pines for a young man he sees on the beach and who lives in the same hotel. The film is about the suppression of forbidden passions and about a man's love for a young boy — a taboo subject then and now.

100 years of homosexuality in film It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives (1971) Director Rosa von Praunheim knew first-hand what it's like be a homosexual man battling self-hatred and guilt. The film takes a frank look at gay lifestyles, including common-law marriage, leather-clad men in the park and life in a gay commune.

100 years of homosexuality in film My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) A street punk named Danny in Stephen Frears' comedy drama film was the first major role for actor Daniel Day-Lewis. His character and Omar, a Pakistani friend, take over the management of a launderette in mid-1980s London and start a romantic relationship.

100 years of homosexuality in film Maurice (1987) James Ivory filmed the story of an unhappy love affair in Britain in the 1910s. College students Maurice (James Wilby) and Clive (Hugh Grant) fall in love. Confessing to being gay would mean exclusion from society, however, so Clive marries a woman, while Maurice falls in love with another man - Clive's servant.

100 years of homosexuality in film My own private Idaho (1991) Mike (River Phoenix), a young gay street hustler, is on the road, searching for his mother. Scott (Keanu Reeves) joins him; both prostitute themselves during the road trip. Mike is in love with Scott, who is heterosexual and turns him away. The film rang in the era of New Queer Cinema of the early 1990s — the golden era of gay and lesbian cinema.

100 years of homosexuality in film The Most Desired Man (1994) Macho meets drag queens: in this highly successful 1994 German comedy, actor Til Schweiger plays a womanizer who moves in with a gay man after his girlfriend dumps him, leading to all kinds of awkward situations. Sönke Wortmann's adaptation of a Ralf König comic has even been turned into a musical.

100 years of homosexuality in film Brokeback Mountain (2005) In "Brokeback Mountain," the two cowboys Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal, l.) and Ennis (Heath Ledger) poach, drink and sleep together, but their mutual attraction is a taboo among cowboys, so both marry women. For this neo-Western, Taiwanese-American director Ang Lee won three Oscars and created an unforgettable melodrama.

100 years of homosexuality in film Carol (2015) In "Carol", Kate Blanchett (right) and Rooney Mara play two women who fall in love in New York in the early '50s but have to keep their relationship secret: The sexual revolution, women's liberation and the gay rights movement are not yet on the horizon. Todd Haynes filmed the novel by Patricia Highsmith, who published her work under a pseudonym in 1952 due to the sensitive subject. Author: Sabine Oelze (db)



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