Pippa McCathie said if Guernsey was considering following England and Wales and issuing a posthumous pardon for men convicted of now-abolished homosexual offences it should happen without delay.
However, she said it was a shame it had to happen. 'I mean, what are we giving them a pardon for? Being themselves? I find it very difficult to stomach a pardon for something that should never have been criminal in the first place,' she said.
'It is absolutely essential that it is done and it should not take a long time. We should just say that we are going to do it and say that we have decided we are going to do this. It seems a sensible thing to be done.'
The UK government recently announced that gay and bisexual men convicted of such offences in England and Wales are to receive pardons, and Policy & Resources lead on social policy Deputy Jane Stephens said the local position would be reviewed.
The UK's decision follows the pardoning in 2013 of Second World War code-breaker Alan Turing for gross indecency. Under the law – dubbed the Turing law – dead people who were convicted of sexual acts that are no longer deemed criminal will receive an automatic pardon.
Of the 65,000 men convicted under the laws in England and Wales, 15,000 are still alive.
