California pardons gay civil rights leader in new initiative California’s governor is posthumously pardoning a gay civil rights leader while creating a new pardon process for others convicted under outdated laws punishing homosexual activitySACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California’s governor announced Wednesday that he is posthumously pardoning a gay civil rights leader while creating a new pardon process for others convicted under outdated laws punishing homosexual activity. Gavin Newsom pardoned Rustin for his arrest in 1953 when he was found having sex with two men in a parked car in Pasadena. He issued an executive order creating what he called a new clemency initiative to identify those who might be eligible for pardons and swiftly consider those applications. The California Legislature’s LGBTQ and black caucuses last month asked the Democratic governor to pardon Rustin. California repealed the law against consensual sex between same-sex adults in 1975, and in 1997 created a way for those individuals to be removed from the California Sex Offender Registry.

Source: ABC News February 05, 2020 12:35 UTC