London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Isle of Man to pardon men convicted for homosexual acts

Isle of Man to pardon men convicted for homosexual acts

New act will pardon those convicted for a historical sexual offence if the act in question is no longer a crime
Men who have been convicted for homosexual acts on the Isle of Man will be automatically pardoned later this year in what campaigners said was a long overdue and necessary change in law.

Homosexuality was decriminalised on the Isle of Man in 1992 and its first Gay Pride event took place last summer.

Jane Poole-Wilson, the home affairs minister, said new legislation would come into force in June at the latest.

The new act will pardon those convicted for a historical sexual offence if the act in question is no longer a crime. While the pardons will be automatic, people will have to apply to have historical convictions struck from their records in a “disregard process”.

Two years ago the island’s then chief minister apologised for the way gay men had been treated, having had their homes raided and been put on trial for consensual sexual activity.

“Our previous laws discriminated against and criminalised men solely for who they were and who they loved,” said Howard Quayle.

“The previous law reflected a different time, a different place. An island of the past. Those who were convicted of these crimes, and their loved ones, should no longer have to shoulder the burden of guilt. They should be seen as innocent.

“All those people affected – the men themselves, their partners, wider family and friends – they deserve an unqualified apology from us.”

The forthcoming pardons were welcomed by Alan Shea, a hero of the Manx battle for gay rights. On 5 July 1991, the Manx bank holiday of Tynwald Day, he wore a concentration camp uniform fashioned from Marks & Spencer pyjamas to petition parliament to legalise homosexuality, making parallels with the Nazi persecution of gay people.

Soldiers hissed at Shea as he walked to Tynwald Hill to argue that he should not face life in jail just for having sex with his partner, Stephen Moore, now his husband. On camera, a furious man denounced Shea and his friends as local children looked on with interest.

“It’s good that people are finally being pardoned, but we are still waiting for an apology from the chief constable of the Isle of Man police to apologise for the way the force persecuted gay people,” said Shea.

He was unable to get a job for 10 years after The Tynwald Day protest and claims his house was put under constant surveillance by police, questioning everybody who came in and out.

Shea was never arrested but has friends who were, some of whom left the island, never to return. “Many of them are still haunted with memories of what happened,” he said.

Peter Tatchell, the gay rights campaigner, said: “This decision is long overdue and necessary given the intense persecution LGBT+ people faced on the Isle of Man in the decades after homosexuality was significantly decriminalised in the rest of the UK.”

He echoed Shea’s call for a police apology, saying: “The Isle of Man police went out of their way to target and persecuted gay and bisexual men and conducted a witch-hunt that was unprecedented in the UK.”

In 2017 the UK issued thousands of pardons for gay men, after the 2013 royal pardon granted by the Queen to Alan Turing, the mathematician who broke the German Enigma codes during the second world war. He killed himself in 1954, at the age of 41, after his conviction for gross indecency.

The Isle of Man is not part of the UK but is a self-governing British Crown Dependency with its own parliament, government and laws. The UK government, on behalf of the crown, is ultimately responsible for its international relations and defence, and provides consular services for its 84,000 citizens.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
×