I agree with you in principle.
A note on anti-homosexuality laws. Almost all criminalised particular acts, and as a result most criminalised male, but not female homosexuality. Most did not carry a death penalty. An aspect of many that has a lesson for our own times is that they were sincerely meant to be for people's own good - e.g. Turing was being "treated", not punished. In some cases the same laws criminalised things that are still crimes as well.
> they were sincerely meant to be for people's own good
That is an incredibly offensive bastardization of history.