1st July 2025
The LGBT Restorative Justice Campaign welcomes the announcement by the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee of a public consultation on the proposed scheme to disregard the historic convictions of gay and bisexual men for consensual same-sex activities.
“A grave injustice was done to gay and bisexual men who were arrested, charged, prosecuted, convicted or imprisoned under the colonial laws that criminalised gay and bisexual men for consensual same-sex relationships. These laws were on the statute books in Ireland until they were repealed in 1993” said Karl Hayden from the LGBT Restorative Justice Campaign.
“We welcome Minister McEntee’s acknowledgement of the damage caused to the lives of those directly impacted by the unjust laws and her commitment to address those harms by delivering a process which will exonerate the men through a disregard scheme. The opening of the public consultation is an important step in developing an effective and fair process to restore the human dignity and rights of those men” said Hayden.
The public consultation launched today (4th Nov) by the Minister builds on the State Apology given in both houses of the Oireachtas in 2018, and on a commitment in the Programme for Government to introduce a scheme to expunge convictions under the now-repealed laws.
“The criminalising laws created a climate of fear and stigma for gay and bisexual men, and by extension for all LGBT+ people. They created a context where it was very difficult to meet with other LGBT+ people, to form relationships, to find love, to build communities. They buttressed the social, political and religious bigotry against LGBT+ people and gave rise to an endemic homophobia, causing real harm to those directly and indirectly affected. The laws also had a significant chilling effect on progress towards equality for LGBT+ people which has taken decades to reverse, the work on which continues to this day” said Brian Sheehan from the LGBT Restorative Justice Campaign.
Sheehan continued “Since decriminalisation on the basis of equality in 1993 there has been very significant legislative and social progress for LGBT+ people in Ireland. The State Apology and the proposed disregard scheme are very important steps in building towards a country that fully respects the rights and dignity of all LGBT+ people.
“They also acknowledge that the experience of the LGBT+ community has parallels with others who were stigmatised, institutionalised or criminalised in Irish society in the past.”
Details of the public consultation on questions set by the Department’s Working Group are available on www.justice.ie and which is open for submissions until 9th December.
ENDS.
LGBT Disregard 