After 43 years, a man dubbed, ‘the oldest gay in the village’ has finally received an “abject apology” from the Home Office.
George Montague was convicted in 1974 of gross indecency with a man and has fought ever since for an apology.
The 93-year-old, started a petition and delivered it to Downing Street with his husband, Somchai Pukklai, asking for “an apology before I die”.
The petition received over 7,000 signatures.
While the government pardoned thousands of gay men, Mr Montague argued that this was not enough because a pardon still “accepts that you were guilty”.
The petition said: “
If one was born only able to be ‘in love’ with another man, one was automatically presumed guilty. I and 49,000 others still have criminal convictions. I am partitioning for an apology from this government on behalf of their predecessors.