Having been convicted of ‘gross indecency’ in 1952 after admitting a sexual relationship with a man, Alan Turing was given a choice of prison or "therapy" conducted by doctors who believed homosexuality was a treatable disease. The “therapy” was in fact chemical castration where a series of injections of oestrogen (female hormones) would be administered. Although men produce oestrogen naturally, excessively high levels of oestrogen in men may result in the development of breasts, decreased sex drive, weight gain and heart failure. The wartime hero, who is famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes, took his own life just two years later by biting into a cyanide-laced apple, at the age of 41.
According to the BBC’s profile of Alan Turing, he had been credited by Winston Churchill with making the single biggest contribution to Allied victory in the war against Nazi Germany. His pivotal role in cracking intercepted messages helped the Allies to defeat the Nazis in several crucial battles.
The apology came after a petition posted on the No 10 Downing Street website, the official site of the Prime Minister’s Office, had attracted 30,000 signatures. The petition was initiated by computer scientist John Graham-Cumming who had called for a posthumous government apology to the computer pioneer. The campaign was backed by author Ian McEwan, scientist Richard Dawkins and gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
Tatchell told the BBC an estimated 100,000 men were prosecuted for homosexual offences during the last century. Famed writer Oscar Wilde was convicted of “gross indecency” and sentenced to two years' hard labour in 1895.
He said: "It's wrong for the prime minister to just give apologies to celebrities and public figures.
"Unlike Turing, many thousands of ordinary gay and bisexual men were never given the option of hormone treatment as an alternative to jail. They were sent to prison and they need an apology too."
The following statement was posted on number10.gov.uk by Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Sep 10, 2009:
Treatment of Alan Turing was “appalling” – PM
The Prime Minister has released a statement on the Second World War code-breaker, Alan Turing, recognising the “appalling” way he was treated for being gay.
Alan Turing, a mathematician most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes, was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ in 1952 and sentenced to chemical castration.
Gordon Brown’s statement came in response to a petition posted on the Number 10 website which has received thousands of signatures in recent months.
Statement:
2009 has been a year of deep reflection - a chance for Britain, as a nation, to commemorate the profound debts we owe to those who came before. A unique combination of anniversaries and events have stirred in us that sense of pride and gratitude which characterise the British experience. Earlier this year I stood with Presidents Sarkozy and Obama to honour the service and the sacrifice of the heroes who stormed the beaches of Normandy 65 years ago. And just last week, we marked the 70 years which have passed since the British government declared its willingness to take up arms against Fascism and declared the outbreak of World War Two. So I am both pleased and proud that, thanks to a coalition of computer scientists, historians and LGBT activists, we have this year a chance to mark and celebrate another contribution to Britain’s fight against the darkness of dictatorship; that of code-breaker Alan Turing.
Turing was a quite brilliant mathematician, most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes. It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of World War Two could well have been very different. He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war. The debt of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely. In 1952, he was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ - in effect, tried for being gay. His sentence - and he was faced with the miserable choice of this or prison - was chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones. He took his own life just two years later.
Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated. While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can’t put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted as he was convicted under homophobic laws were treated terribly. Over the years millions more lived in fear of conviction.
I am proud that those days are gone and that in the last 12 years this government has done so much to make life fairer and more equal for our LGBT community. This recognition of Alan’s status as one of Britain’s most famous victims of homophobia is another step towards equality and long overdue.
But even more than that, Alan deserves recognition for his contribution to humankind. For those of us born after 1945, into a Europe which is united, democratic and at peace, it is hard to imagine that our continent was once the theatre of mankind’s darkest hour. It is difficult to believe that in living memory, people could become so consumed by hate - by anti-Semitism, by homophobia, by xenophobia and other murderous prejudices - that the gas chambers and crematoria became a piece of the European landscape as surely as the galleries and universities and concert halls which had marked out the European civilisation for hundreds of years. It is thanks to men and women who were totally committed to fighting fascism, people like Alan Turing, that the horrors of the Holocaust and of total war are part of Europe’s history and not Europe’s present.
So on behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan’s work I am very proud to say: we’re sorry, you deserved so much better.
Gordon Brown