[LINK] "Liberals’ gay-pardon decision applauded but obstacles still exist"

[rfmcdonald]

John Ibbitson writes in The Globe and Mail about the decision of the Canadian government to posthumously pardon Everett Klippett, the man whose definite imprisonment in the 1960s for being actively gay helped lead to law reform.

“Canada would be breaking new ground,” said Douglas Elliott, a lawyer who has advocated for the LGBT community since the 1970s. “It would be fantastic to see Canada getting ahead of the pack, again.”

Family members and gay-rights activists are celebrating the Prime Minister’s decision to pardon Everett Klippert, the only Canadian to have been labelled a dangerous sexual offender because he was a homosexual. Mr. Trudeau decided to pardon Mr. Klippert after his office was apprised of the case last week by The Globe and Mail.

“It’s just wonderful, it’s a great idea,” Donald Klippert, Everett’s nephew, said on Sunday. Everett Klippert never sought out publicity after his release from prison, and declined to participate in parade marches or protests when gay-rights activists sought him out in later years.

“I think he’d be embarrassed by all the attention” his pardon is generating, Donald Klippert said. “On the other hand, I think he’d be very proud of the fact that his sacrifice, his time in prison, that something good came out of it.”

Everett Klippert’s imprisonment led to the decriminalization of homosexuality, and it is now expected to lead to the pardon of thousands of men who were also imprisoned.