Spain: Gay man gets apology for imprisonment

[Sapphocrat]

A Spanish man who was imprisoned as a teenager for being gay has become the first to receive an official letter of apology.

. . .

In 1976, when he was 17 years old, Mr (Antoni) Ruiz told his family he was gay.

. . .

When Mr Ruiz's worried parents confided in a Catholic monk, he promptly denounced their son to the authorities.

The teenager spent three months in prison and was banned from returning home for another year.

Mr Ruiz now heads an association for other former prisoners and estimates that around 5,000 homosexuals suffered a similar fate to him during Franco's dictatorship.

. . .

More:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/06/2763420.htm?section=world

[joeybee12]

1. Amazing, and not that long ago...people don't realize that Spain was a fascist

state until only recently.

[Meeker Morgan]

2. Franco died in 1975, so this is (just barely) post-fascist.

Just remember folks. Having anti-gay laws was not just a feature of the nastier dictatorships.

In 1975 most US states had such laws. In 1950 such laws were universal in the "free world".

At least Mr. Ruiz is still alive to receive the apology, unlike Alan Turing.