Men who have been convicted for homosexual acts on the Isle of Man will be automatically pardoned later this year in what campaigners said was a long overdue and necessary change in law. Homosexuality was decriminalised on the Isle of Man in 1992 and its first Gay Pride event took place last summer. Jane Poole-Wilson, the home affairs minister, said new legislation would come into force in June at the latest. The new act will pardon those convicted for a historical sexual offence if the act in question is no longer a crime. While the pardons will be automatic, people will have to apply to have historical convictions struck from their records in a “disregard process”. Two years ago the island’s then chief minister apologised for the way gay men had been treated, having had their homes raided and been put on trial for consensual sexual activity. “Our previous laws discriminated against and criminalised men solely for who they were and who they loved,” said Howard Quayle. “The previous law reflected a different time, a different place. An island of the past. Those who were convicted of these crimes, and their loved ones, should no longer have to shoulder the burden of guilt. They should be seen as innocent. “All those people affected – the men themselves, their partners, wider family and friends – they deserve an unqualified apology from us.”