I think pardoned is not the right word here. It's the other way around. It's the justice system that was way out of line.
He never did anything wrong, it was wrong to convict him for his sexual orientation. So there was nothing to pardon, but a lot to ask for forgiveness. Too bad he killed himself before anyone had the decency of recognize the atrocity they did to him.
And please do not argue that at the time things were seen differently. That is in no way a justification for what the "justice" system was doing. Cruelty against humans can never be justified, no matter the epoch. Otherwise we might end up justifying other atrocities that should never ever be justified.
"Pardoning" is the formal process for removing a criminal conviction which has not been overturned in court.
The process of decriminialising things is a lot rarer than criminalizing things, and it's not routine to wipe away all convictions under the old law. Quite probably it should. This is a factor that should be considered in the drug legalization that may happen over the next decade.
If jumping is illegal, and later people are pardoned for jumping, it is still a pardon, even if we find it ridiculous to outlaw jumping with our current moral code.
He never did anything wrong, it was wrong to convict him for his sexual orientation. So there was nothing to pardon, but a lot to ask for forgiveness. Too bad he killed himself before anyone had the decency of recognize the atrocity they did to him.
And please do not argue that at the time things were seen differently. That is in no way a justification for what the "justice" system was doing. Cruelty against humans can never be justified, no matter the epoch. Otherwise we might end up justifying other atrocities that should never ever be justified.