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Gay War Hero Alan Turing Receives Post War Era Apology

by Rhonda J Mangus | September 10, 2009 at 06:50 pm

706 views | 81 Recommendations | 7 comments

On Thursday, September 10th, following a petition signed by more than 30,000 people, gay war hero Alan Turing received a post war era apology from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown who issued a lengthy apology for the way Turing was treated in the post era war.

Turing, often considered to be the father of modern computer science, lived in an era when homosexuality was considered a mental illness and homosexual acts were considered illegal.

Turing famously invented the Turing machine and cracked the German Enigma code during World War Two, ultimately helping the Allies to win the war. But he killed himself in 1954 aged 41 after being convicted of having a sexual relationship with another man.

A British court gave him the choice of going either to prison or undergoing chemical castration and opted for the latter.

A campaign supported by major public figures including Professor Richard Dawkins, writer Ian McEwan, human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell and celebrity Twitterer Stephen Fry is the fourth most signed petition on the Downing Street website.

In a moving and emotional response, Mr Brown reflects on the 70th anniversary of the start of World War Two and says that Turing's treatment was "utterly unfair" that he was convicted under "homophobic laws" and "deserved so much better." Mr Brown's wife Sarah posted on Twitter: "Just back to hear from Gordon that he has rightly issued apology to codebreaker and hero Alan Turing."

Read the Prime Minister's Apology, here.

View the Petition, here.

A portrait of Alan Turing is currently on display at National Portrait Gallery "Gay Icons" Exhibition - July 2nd to October 18th.

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Grace H

at 20:10 on September 10th, 2009

Great post. What happened to the man himself is a travesty, but hopefully this will give friends and family more closure.

israeli.agent

at 20:23 on September 10th, 2009

Question.

Will Britain ever apologize for Colonialism and atrocities they caused like the partition of India, the mess in Sri Lanka, Fiji, Israel etc?

.Agent.

Grace H

at 11:20 on September 11th, 2009

Probably not. Just as the Church never apologized for the Inquisition or said its actions were wrong.

Barry ORegan

at 22:36 on September 10th, 2009

Such a tragedy, We need him to win the war, and once that is accomplished saving million of lives, its time to cut your nuts there Nancy Boy! An apology in my opinion, way too late!

Rhonda J Mangus

at 08:28 on September 11th, 2009

Thank you for removing the SPAM; and special thanks to everyone who read, commented on, and/or recommended this story.

a211423

at 10:55 on September 11th, 2009

I agree with Barry. This is much too late. We can reflect, however, on how far we have come since 1954, and take some comfort from the fact that something like his conviction will never happen again.

Rhonda, thank you for this sad reminder of how barbaric and cruel humans can be.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 18:52 on September 11th, 2009

a211423, yes we can reflect on how far we have come in the treatment of LGBT individuals. And, it is my opinion that we have not come far enough as horrific and barbaric treatment of gays continues throughout the world.

I agree it is a "...sad reminder of how barbaric and cruel humans can be."

Thank you for reading, commenting, and for the recommendation!