A campaign to have those who were convicted for having consensual relationships cleared is celebrating success, with thousands of men affected

Gay and bi-sexual men who were persecuted for their actions are set to be formally pardoned.

The Scottish Parliament passed a new law yesterday (Wednesday 6 June) clearing men convicted of having consensual sex with other men before it was decriminalised.

Consenting sexual activity between men over the age of 21 was only decriminalised in Scotland in 1981.

Those who were convicted to for same-sex sexual activity will now have convictions removed from their records, with thousands of men having been convicted for private sexual activity, kissing in public and even chatting up another man in a public place.

The Equality Network said the passing of the bill proved that discrimination in Scotland is no longer acceptable.

“The next stage will be to implement and publicise the new law. Publicity will be crucial so that all those affected by these historical convictions get to hear about it," said director Tim Hopkins.

“LGBTI people continue to face prejudice and hostility, and there is much more to do. We look forward to continuing to work with the Scottish Government, on the forthcoming reform of the Gender Recognition Act for trans people, and other work to address homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, and to promote fairness for all.”

The charity estimates that the total number of these historical discriminatory convictions in Scotland runs into thousands, and that there are hundreds of men alive today with such convictions on their records.

Naomi McAuliffe, Amnesty International’s Scotland programme director, added: “The Scottish Parliament’s symbolic act of automatically pardoning gay men for historical sexual offences will allow some of the LGBTI community to finally access human rights that have been denied for decades.

“Allowing men who have previously been convicted under discriminatory laws to apply to have these stricken from their record is a positive step. However, If people don’t apply to have such convictions removed, they may be prevented from being eligible to apply for certain jobs.

“In many respects, Scotland is leading the UK in the commitment to progress LGBTI rights; the current review of the Gender Recognition Act is a recent positive step, but we must ensure that human rights are truly universal in this country.”

The pardon applies both posthumously to people who are no longer living, and to those who are living.

Justice secretary Michael Matheson, who brought the legislation to parliament, said: "This marks a key moment where we address a historic wrong, where the law criminalised people simply because of their sexual orientation. This bill can itself not right the massive injustice caused by laws that helped foster homophobia and hatred, criminalised acts between consenting adults, and stopped people from being themselves around their families, friends, neighbours and colleagues.

“But this legislation does send a clear message that these laws were unjust. The wrong has been committed by the state, not by the individuals - the wrong has been done to them."