Nearly six decades after he took his own life following a conviction
of "gross indecency" for being a homosexual, the famed World War II
codebreaker Alan Turing has finally been granted a royal pardon by the
UK government. The Guardian reports:
Turing
was considered to be the father of modern computer science and was most
famous for his work in helping to create the "bombe" that cracked
messages enciphered with the German Enigma machines. He was convicted of
gross indecency in 1952 after admitting a sexual relationship with a
man.
He was given experimental chemical
castration as a "treatment". His criminal record resulted in the loss of
his security clearance and meant he was no longer able to work for
Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), where he had been
employed following service at Bletchley Park during the war. He died of
cyanide poisoning in 1954, aged 41.
Announcing the pardon, [justice secretary
Chris] Grayling said: "Dr Alan Turing was an exceptional man with a
brilliant mind. His brilliance was put into practice at Bletchley Park
during the second world war, where he was pivotal to breaking the Enigma
code, helping to end the war and save thousands of lives.
"His later life was overshadowed by his
conviction for homosexual activity, a sentence we would now consider
unjust and discriminatory and which has now been repealed.
"Dr Turing deserves to be remembered and
recognised for his fantastic contribution to the war effort and his
legacy to science. A pardon from the Queen is a fitting tribute to an
exceptional man."
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