On 19th of May 1897 Oscar Wilde was released from prison. His crime ‘gross indecency’ , accused and convicted of homosexuality, and sentenced to two years hard labour.
The 1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act made all homosexual acts of ‘gross indecency’ illegal.
The bill was primarily concerned with the protection of women and girls by increasing the age of consent and yet this small section in the Act was a pivotal change in homosexual legislation. Unusually, this section was passed during a late night debate in the House of Commons with only a few MPs present. It was under this Act that Oscar Wilde and Alan Turing, among many others, were convicted and punished for committing homosexual acts. 1885 Labouchere Amendment
Most of Oscar Wilde’s time was spent in Reading Gaol where despite his health deteriorating he wrote about the conditions in prisons. Once he was released he composed The Ballad of Reading Gaol.
On release from prison he sailed that evening for Dieppe, France and never returned to the United Kingdom. He spent his last three years impoverished and in exile.
In England since 2012, men have been able to apply to have their convictions or cautions for consensual sex with another man disregarded. Through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, the UK Government widened the offences – both civilian and service offences – covered by the scheme. For the first time, women will also be able to apply.
Consenting sex between men over the age of 21 was only decriminalised in Scotland in 1981. In 2020 the Scottish Government pardoned all men with convictions for same-sex sexual activity that is now legal. The pardon applies to the living and the dead.
Oscar Wilde died on 30th November 1900 (aged 46) in Paris, France.