I was a college student in '75 and came out in my first months on campus. A religious group on campus, Campus Crusade for Christ made no bones about being against gay rights and anything else pro-gay and that launched me on my way to atheism. Took a long time actually. I was Methodist in '75 and later on put in a few years Unitarian/Universalist. AIDS era really put me off religion for keeps.
The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it.