Petition for Turing

A petition has been launched  to ask the current government to issue a formal pardon to the gay mathematician Alan Turing.

Turing, who worked at Bletchley Park during the World War Two,and whose statue sits proudly in Sackville Gardens, was prosecuted for his sexual orientation in 1952 and obliged to undergo chemical castration.

He committed suicide two years later, aged just 41.

His invention of the Turing machine helped Britain and its Allies crack the German codes created by the Enigma machine, enabling them to decipher intercepted messages and considerably aiding the war effort.

In 2009, after a campaign led by several high profile figures,over 30,000 members of the public urged Gordon Brown to issue an apology for Turing’s treatment on behalf of the British government. Mr Brown agreed to do so.

This current activity is hoped to result in a full pardon for Turing..

To sign the petition.

Published: 9-Dec-2011: (986)