Now If Only The Pope Would Do The Same: We're Sorry !

The following  has been clipped from a number of sources, including The Bilerico Project Report posted 12 September 2009.

"While [mathematician Alan 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. 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."

--British Prime Minister Gordon Brown

Related articles by Zemanta

• Sorry About the Gay Witchhunt, Alan Turing (gawker.com)
• PM apologizes for gay code-breaker's treatment (cnn.com)
• Alan Turing Gets an Apology From Prime Minister Brown (politics.slashdot.org)
• Gordon Brown apologizes to Alan Turing (bilerico.com)
• "We're sorry: you deserved so much better" (openparachute.wordpress.com)
• UK government says sorry for 1950s prosecution of computer pioneer Alan Turing (geeksaresexy.net)
• PM apologises to codebraker Turing (guardian.co.uk)
• Tortured genius (news.bbc.co.uk)
• It's About Time: Britain's Prime Minister Apologizes to Alan Turing [Apology] (gizmodo.com)
• PM apology after Turing petition (news.bbc.co.uk)

Sphere: Related Content

Gordon Brown apologises to Alan Turing

 

Alan Turing, a gay mathematical genius from a half-century ago, finally got an apology from the British government http://advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/09/10/British_PM_Apologizes_to_Turing/ after a petition gathered 30,000 signatures for it.

Without Turing's work, the computer age would have looked quite different. His work on the Turing machine was a theoretical fore-runner to the modern personal computer and came up with the basic concept of software, getting him cited as one of Time's 100 most influential people of the 20th century.

More famously, he also worked as a cryptologist and cracked the code Nazis were using to communicate, bringing World War II to an earlier end. What he did was nothing short of heroism, putting his mind to work to save countless lives.  But, proving the idiocy of discrimination, he was put on trial for "gross indecency" because he admitted to having a relationship with another man. Here's how Wikipedia puts it:

In January 1952 Turing picked up the 19-year-old Arnold Murray outside a cinema in Manchester. After a lunch date, Turing invited Murray to spend the weekend with him at his house, an invitation which Murray accepted although he did not show up. The pair met again in Manchester the following Monday, when Murray agreed to accompany Turing to the latter's house. A few weeks later Murray visited Turing's house again, and apparently spent the night there.[31]

More after the jump. 

Continue reading "Gordon Brown apologizes to Alan Turing"...

Related articles by Zemanta

• Gordon Brown apologizes to Alan Turing (bilerico.com)
• Britain apologizes for wartime code-breaker's treatment (ctv.ca)
• "We're sorry: you deserved so much better" (openparachute.wordpress.com)
• UK: Treatment of (gay) genius mathematician Alan Turing "appalling" (boingboing.net)
• Gordon Brown to Alan Turing: I'm proud to say sorry to a real war hero (themoderatevoice.com)

Sphere: Related Content