Alan Turing Gets Posthumous Apology from UK Gov’t
Alan Turing was a hero in World War II for his code-breaking skills which helped crack Nazi Germany’s Enigma encryption machine and is also considered one of the fathers of the modern computer.
He was also gay and persecuted–perhaps tortured is a better word–by the British Government to the extent that he committed suicide. His crime was that he had sex with another man.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown offered an apology 55 years after his death.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown offered a posthumous apology Friday for the “inhumane” treatment of Alan Turing, the World War II codebreaker who committed suicide in 1954 after being prosecuted for homosexuality and forcibly treated with female hormones.
The mathematician helped crack Nazi Germany’s Enigma encryption machine – a turning point in the war – and is considered a father of modern computing.
In 1952, however, Turing was convicted of gross indecency for having sex with a man and offered a choice between prison and “chemical castration” – the injection of female hormones to suppress his libido. His security clearance was revoked and he was no longer allowed to work for the government.
Two years later, he killed himself at age 41 by eating an apple laced with cyanide.
The apology is pretty meaningless at this point. It does nothing to repair the misery and death caused by the British Government’s actions. It just makes those who apologize feel a little better about themselves and is therefore self-serving.
It would have been better if the Prime Minister had used this opportunity to warn against governments that interfere in relationships between consenting adults. That might do something to prevent similar events from happening in the future. But no government is going to do that since interfering in the relationships of consenting adults is what they are in the business of doing. The story of Alan Turing reminds us of the horrible cost.
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