Last week National finally introduced its bill to wipe historic homosexual convictions. But in addition to the bill, Parliament will also be formally apologising to the victims of its bigotry:
Parliament will issue a formal apology to men convicted of homosexual crimes under old laws.
Justice Minister Amy Adams will move the apology during the first reading of a bill to expunge the crimes from the record on Wednesday.
The motion will read: "I move that this House apologise to those homosexual New Zealanders who were convicted for consensual adult activity, and recognise the tremendous hurt and suffering those men and their families have gone through, and the continued effects the convictions have had on them."
Good. While its not compensation, a formal apology is better than nothing.
Meanwhile, I'm wondering how Winston Peters will vote on this. He's one of the few MP's who were in Parliament when Homosexual Law Reform passed (the others are Trevor Mallard, Annette King and Peter Dunne), and the only surviving MP to have voted against it. Has he resiled from his historic bigotry? Or is he going to vote against this apology?
