Published
3 years agoon
SACRAMENTO — 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he is posthumously pardoning a gay civil rights leader while creating a new pardon process for others convicted under outdated laws punishing homosexual activity.
Related Story: Gov. Gavin Newsom Asked to Pardon Late Gay Rights Leader
FILE – In this July 23, 2019, file photo, Gov. Gavin Newsom talks to reporters at his Capitol office, in Sacramento, Calif. Newsom reached a deal with apartment owners and developers Friday, Aug. 30, 2019, on legislation that would cap how rapidly rents can rise as the state grapples with a housing crisis. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
Newsom’s office could not say if other states have taken similar steps.
“In California and across the country, many laws have been used as legal tools of oppression, and to stigmatize and punish LGBTQ people and communities and warn others what harm could await them for living authentically,” Newsom said in a statement. He thanked those who pushed for Rustin’s pardon and encouraged others in similar circumstances “to seek a pardon to right this egregious wrong.”
Newsom first gained national prominence in 2004 when, as San Francisco’s mayor, he ordered officials to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The practice was overturned then but eventually became the law nationwide.
The California Legislature’s LGBTQ and black caucuses last month asked the Democratic governor to pardon Rustin.
Rustin’s close friends knew he was gay, but his religious and political associates distanced themselves after his arrest, Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco and Assemblywoman Shirley Weber told Newsom on behalf of the caucuses.
“Generations of LGBT people — including countless gay men — were branded criminals and sex offenders simply because they had consensual sex,” Wiener said in a statement praising Newsom’s actions. “This was often life-ruining, and many languished on the sex offender registry for decades.”
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