Via JMG: Britain To Grant Posthumous Pardon To Gay Codebreaker Alan Turing

Famed WWII codebreaker Alan Turing will be granted a posthumous pardon by the British government. Turing committed suicide after being convicted of gross decency under Britain's anti-homosexuality code.

The government signalled on Friday that it is prepared to support a backbench bill that would pardon Turing, who died from cyanide poisoning at the age of 41 in 1954 after he was subjected to "chemical castration". Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, a government whip, told peers that the government would table the third reading of the Alan Turing (statutory pardon) bill at the end of October if no amendments are made. "If nobody tables an amendment to this bill, its supporters can be assured that it will have speedy passage to the House of Commons," Ahmad said. The announcement marks a change of heart by the government, which declined last year to grant pardons to the 49,000 gay men, now dead, who were convicted under the 1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act. They include Oscar Wilde.

Turing is considered by many to be the father of computer science.

Labels: Alan Turing, Britain, LGBT History, science

Reposted from Joe