UK apologises to Turing

[RedRalph]

From BBC

Gordon Brown has said he is sorry for the "appalling" way World War II code breaker Alan Turing was treated for being gay.

A petition on the No 10 website had called for a posthumous government apology to the computer pioneer.

In 1952 Turing was prosecuted for gross indecency after admitting a sexual relationship with a man. Two years later he killed himself.

The campaign was the idea of computer scientist John Graham-Cumming.

He was seeking an apology for the way the mathematician was treated after his conviction. He also wrote to the Queen to ask for Turing to be awarded a posthumous knighthood.

The campaign was backed by Ian McEwan, scientist Richard Dawkins and gay-rights campaigner Peter Tatchell. The petition posted on the Downing Street website attracted thousands of signatures.

Mr Brown, writing in the Telegraph newspaper, said: "While Mr 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."

National legacy

He said Mr Turing deserved recognition for his contribution to humankind.

In the statement he said: "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."

Organisers of the petition welcomed the move and Mr Turing's three nieces said they were "delighted" and "very glad" to see the injustice recognised.



Dr Sue Black, Saving Bletchley Park campaign: "It's fantastic now that there has been an apology"
Alan Turing was given experimental chemical castration as a "treatment" and his security privileges were removed, meaning he could not continue work for the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).

Alan Turing is most famous for his code-breaking work at Bletchley Park during WWII, helping to create the Bombe that cracked messages enciphered with the German Enigma machines.

However, he also made significant contributions to the emerging fields of artificial intelligence and computing.

In 1936 he established the conceptual and philosophical basis for the rise of computers in a seminal paper called On Computable Numbers, while in 1950 he devised a test to measure the intelligence of a machine. Today it is known as the Turing Test.

After the war he worked at many institutions including the University of Manchester, where he worked on the Manchester Mark 1, one of the first recognisable modern computers.

There is a memorial statue of him in Manchester's Sackville Gardens which was unveiled in 2001.

Well it's about fiddlestixing time

 

[Dachs]

Even Gordon Brown can't overcome a unanimous vote.

 

[Dragonlord]

Alan Turing was given experimental chemical castration as a "treatment"

WTH??? This was legal in Britain??? That's outrageous, even for those times!

I didn't know about this whole thing - Turing is otherwise well known to us all, I presume.
The apology is well merited - though it doesn't help Turing very much, does it?

 

[Dragonlord]

Even Gordon Brown can't overcome a unanimous vote.

I missed that one! And it wasn't quite unanimous: there was one dissenter, I see. Probably one of those immature internet jokers, I presume.

 

[Dachs]

I missed that one! And it wasn't quite unanimous: there was one dissenter, I see. Probably one of those immature internet jokers, I presume.

He admitted in the thread that he agreed with the rest of us, but that he voted the other way because the poll would look wrong if nobody dissented.

 

[Mise]

I'm glad it was an apology and not a pardon!

 

[Snorrius]

Alan Turing was given experimental chemical castration as a "treatment"
WTH??? This was legal in Britain??? That's outrageous, even for those times!

He was given a choice - "treatment" or two years in the jail.

The apology is well merited - though it doesn't help Turing very much, does it?

Anglo-Saxon nations do this every time - first they exterminate someone, then apologize.

 

[Dachs]

Anglo-Saxon nations do this every time - first they exterminate someone, then apologize.

'Sins of the father', eh?

 

[Dragonlord]

He was given a choice - "treatment" or two years in the jail.

Still outrageous

Anglo-Saxon nations do this every time - first they exterminate someone, then apologize.

*cough,cough* You mean, as opposed to Slavic nations who exterminate someone, then deny it ever happened?

 

[J-man]

It's too late but better late then never I guess.

 

[Grisu]

though they should extend the apology to all gays who were mistreated under the law like Turing.

 

[Truronian]

though they should extend the apology to all gays who were mistreated under the law like Turing.

This /\

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

I don't think sodomy should be excused.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

I'm glad it was an apology and not a pardon!

Indeed.

 

[pau17]

So is he going to get the knighthood or not?

 

[RedRalph]

I don't think sodomy should be excused.

For both giver and reciever?

 

[Camikaze]

though they should extend the apology to all gays who were mistreated under the law like Turing.

This.

So, what next? I wanna see an American apology for the victims of the Red Scare, for starters, before an apology to conscientious objectors, perhaps?

 

[Rossiya]

Wait for the anti-Britain parade to come to the thread!

 

[Moggy]

I don't think sodomy should be excused.

I don't think bigots should either.

 

[Yared]

The treatment made him sterile for a year or something and also gave him boobs.