For UK people: Are you signing the Turing petition?

for an apology for Alan Turing? Not that he needs it now, just . . . wondering if you are interested.

An online petition demanding a formal apology from the British government for its treatment of World War II code-breaker Alan Turing is gaining momentum.

A portrait of Alan Turing is currently on display at the National Portrait Gallery's "Gay Icons" exhibition.

Turing was subjected to chemical castration in 1952 after being found guilty of the charge of gross indecency for having a homosexual relationship, an illegal act at the time. He committed suicide two years later.

More than 19,000 people have added their names to the petition on the UK Government Web site since it opened three weeks ago, urging the government to "recognize the tragic consequences of prejudice that ended this man's life and career."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/09/01/alan.turing.petition/index.html

I may just move to the UK so i can sign it.

I was going to post something about this earlier, then got distracted. He's one of my heroes.

Wow. Pretty amazing.

Turing was a maths-and-logic nerd, one of the worlds first code monkeys, and Churchill described him as having made a bigger contribution to the victory in WWII than any other individual. His work on running the computers that cracked the enigma code was absolutely vital.

So he preferred men to women. BFD.

An apology and full rehabilitation of his reputation would seem long overdue.

I can't agree more. We have lost a lot of very talented language experts in our military because of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which Obama supports. The time to drop the veil has long passed.

What was done to this man was unforgivable. The Grandfather of modern computing. Saviour of the British war effort. A true national hero. Driven to suicide by humiliation and brutality.

There was a fabulous BBC drama about his life about 15 years ago, with Derek Jacobi playing Turing. His performance was spellbinding. One of our finest actors.

Here's a scene from the play: Breaking the Code. This scene was cut from the American version of the play, but was included in the Brit version.

[youtube]gV67Sj2jkVg&feature=PlayList&p=92F5C1B349C35D9D&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=9[/youtube]

And for the math's geeks here's a lecture on Turing (25 mins) from USWA:

[youtube]2bLCjMA0YlE&feature=PlayList&p=92F5C1B349C35D9D&index=10&playnext=2&playnext_from=PL[/youtube]


[eta] Errata from the lecturer:

Errata: My memory was about as reliable as usual - I said Tommy stayed outside in a boat but i've since read that all three swam across and went into the U-559. Humbling bravery. I've also since realised that Colin Grazier was from Tamworth in the UK, not the Tamworth in Australia as I had always thought (why are so many English places named after Australian towns?) Finally, something which actually I did know but still managed to get wrong - the important material salvaged was not a cypher machine but quantities of data (ciphertext and the corresponding plaintext I think) which the codebreakers at Bletchley Park were able to use as "cribs" and were of vast help in cracking the submarine code used at that time.

I think what happened to Turing is was heinous, I think many people today would. And a post-humous pardon for sure, for all the good it will do. I guess maybe it will serve to highlight the cause for quality which is all good. But are we really reponsible for the sins of our fathers? Who should be apologising to who and what would they say? If there ever was a deserving case this is one but I just don't get the whole apology for crimes of earlier generations. The best apology is to fix the damn problem, and whilst we're not there yet by a long way in the case of homosexuality, advances have been and are still being made towards equality. If he had kids or a surviving partner, then yes, I could see why the would be owed an apology even though the current government was not responsible.

However I am glad that his story is being highlighted and he is now more recognized for his genius than his sexual preferences. My bachelor's degree was Mathematics and Computer Science, so I am very familiar with his work. At one point I think I wished he was alive so I could kill him for taxing my brain so :lol:

DanaC;591993 wrote:

There was a fabulous BBC drama about his life about 15 years ago, with Derek Jacobi playing Turing. His performance was spellbinding. One of our finest actors.

You could say he's the Master.
Sorry. A moment of levity *

I'm not into petitions. So I haven't signed.
I might, though.
Of course I know of his case and his history. Horrendous.
And worse yet, people around the world are still subject to this dreadful discrimination. Not to make this an international issue (Catholic countries are far worse) but the States is hardly blameless even today. I shudder when I think about some of the laws still valid in your country :(

Disclaimer: we have our fair share of bigots here and I think we've had a gay-targetted bombing more recently than you (unless the news simply didn't filter through.)

Much as I usually deride "public opinion" as a factor for change - the public generally being more reactionary than me - I know it helps sometimes. It was a groundswell that lead to Derek Bentley being posthumously pardoned (hanged as an accessory to murder despite being educationally subnormal, and the killer walking free because he was under age.)

Well worth bringing up.
I'll have to think on it a bit now.

* For Dani - I saw Let Him Have It in Bradford. I knew the case from the Elvis Costello song. And me being me I had to look up every aspect of it because I didn't understand the song. My first sight of Christopher Ecclestone, and the reason I was made up when he became the Doctor.

I wouldn't mind an official apology to the Operation Spanner men, either, but that's not likely to happen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Spanner

ETA: And while they're at it, can they apologize to Oscar Wilde, too?

No, we are not responsible for the sins of our fathers. But whilst it is a different government it is the same State. And the State should be held accountable for the things it has done and absolutely should apologise to those it has wronged.

@ Sundae: Har de har har girlfriend :P Y'know, me and J worked out that with him doing his PhD and me doing my mastership, he's gonna be the Doctor and I'll be the Master

Cloud;592048 wrote:

I wouldn't mind an official apology to the Operation Spanner men, either, but that's not likely to happen.

The law is an ass. We know that, you know that. Occasionally nasty judgements slip through. The Hate Mail is full of them - although usually in the opposite direction. Judges here aren't elected - which sometimes means they are beacons of hope in a political world, and sometimes means they belong two centuries ago.

ETA: And while they're at it, can they apologize to Oscar Wilde, too?

Ah c'mon. He did break the law. Wrong as the law was. And he was Irish after all.

DanaC;592080 wrote:

No, we are not responsible for the sins of our fathers.?

Hear, hear. "We" were condoning gay-bashing at the time our cousins across the water were turning hoses on college-bound men simply because of the colour of their skin. No nation is lily white (crass pun intended)

@ Sundae: Har de har har girlfriend :P Y'know, me and J worked out that with him doing his PhD and me doing my mastership, he's gonna be the Doctor and I'll be the Master

I've read some really filthy slash of the Tennant (conveniently Ten) and the Simm. In fact, Cloud - I'll point you in the direction of some really good Janto slash if you will reciprocate :yum:

Dr. Who/Torchwood slash is almost no fun, since it's canon.

Almost, I said! :D

http://delicious.com/tag/slash%20torchwood

http://delicious.com/tag/slash+drwho

and here's a fun one with Capn Jack and John Sheppard of Stargate Atlantis:

http://janne-d.livejournal.com/40388.html

Torchwood slash is canon - Dr Who is definitely not!
But thanks for the pointers, yumyumyum ;)

the Prime Minister issued an apology:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/09/11/alan.turing.petition.apology/index.html

Yippee!

I appreciated the (apparent) sincerity of Mr. Brown's words.

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.
[... ]
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.

I've known the story about Alan Turing for a long time. Altho this apology is long long overdue, it's good to hear of it. It's unusual for official actions to be reconsidered like this, and apologies pretty much unknown.

I didn't know it was prompted by a petition, but it doesn't surprise me. Its all good tho.

he did sound sincere...excellent.

Bout time this happened. Though I wouldn't have predicted it.