It Took A Long Time

UK government pardons Alan Turing, 60 years after his death → huffingtonpost.com

Alan Turing, a mathematician and computer pioneer whose work helped the Allies crack Nazi codes in WWII, has finally been formally pardoned for the crime that earned him a criminal conviction decades ago: being gay.

Queen Elizabeth II granted Turing’s posthumous pardon this week. He had been convicted of "gross indecency" in 1952 for being in a relationship with another man, resulting in his being "stripped of his security clearance, subjected to monitoring by British authorities, and forced to take estrogen to neutralize his sex drive — a process described by some as chemical castration.” He died by suicide in 1954. 

"Turing was an exceptional man with a brilliant mind," Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said in a prepared statement released Tuesday. Describing Turing’s treatment as unjust, Grayling said the code breaker "deserves to be remembered and recognized for his fantastic contribution to the war effort and his legacy to science."
The pardon has been a long time coming. … 

"It could be argued and it has been argued that he shortened the war, and that possibly without him the Allies might not have won the war," said David Leavitt, the author of a book on Turing’s life and work. "That’s highly speculative, but I don’t think his contribution can be underestimated. It was immense."

Finally. This could never make up for the terrible treatment he had to endure, but it’s well-deserved recognition of a great and important man.

found on gaywrites blog on tumblr