Mark McGowan says ‘state-sanctioned discrimination’ is ‘the foundation upon which much current homophobia is built’The Western Australian premier, Mark McGowan, has formally apologised in parliament to West Australians who had criminal convictions imposed in the past for homosexual acts due to now defunct laws. Law-abiding gay Western Australians should never have had criminal records for consensual acts that are no longer considered crimes, he told state parliament. The attorney general, John Quigley, also introduced legislation on Wednesday that will enable the estimated 200 to 300 people still affected to get those old homosexual convictions expunged. “These laws were state-sanctioned discrimination and the uncomfortable truth is they were also the foundation upon which much current homophobia is built.”He said he hoped the apology would help the LGBTI community and their families to heal. “Our LGBTI community has nothing to be ashamed of, the men affected were innocent of anything we would consider a crime today and their records should reflect their innocence,” McGowan said.

Source: The Guardian November 01, 2017 05:48 UTC