Gov. Gavin Newsom of California pardoned Rustin, who was arrested in 1953 for having sex with men.

Advocates in California want an official pardon as “an affirmation of what Rustin knew all along: that he was not a criminal for being gay.”

Those people, including some lesbians, convicted for same-sex kissing and cuddling under laws such as the Public Order Act of 1986, are not eligible for a pardon.