HOLYROOD came a step closer to pardoning gay men convicted under historical discriminatory laws yesterday.

MSP unanimously backed the Historical Sexual Offences (Pardons and Disregards) Bill, at stage one.

The legislation, if passed, will automatically pardon gay men convicted of crimes that would now no longer be illegal.

All sexual activity between men was a criminal offence in Scotland until 1981, when sex between men over the age of 21 was decriminalised.

It was only in 2001 that the age of consent was lowered to 16.

The Equality Network estimates that the total number of historical discriminatory convictions in Scotland runs into thousands, and that there are hundreds of men alive today with such convictions on their records.

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson told parliament: “I am under no illusion that this Bill, or any legislation, can in itself right the massive injustice caused by these discriminatory laws that criminalised the act of loving another adult, deterred people from being open about who they are to family, friends, neighbours and work colleagues and, by sending a message that parliament considered that homosexuality was wrong, encouraged homophobia and hatred.”

Green MSP Patrick Harvie welcomed it as “an important step in a very long journey”.

“At a moment like this, I’m particularly aware as someone who has been out in his job as an MSP, I’m particularly aware of the debt I owe to those who faced much greater risks than I have to take those much earlier steps in this journey,” he said.

Tory equality spokeswoman Annie Wells called the bill a milestone in the fight against prejudice.