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The Prime Minister has released a statement on the Second World War code-
breaker, Alan Turing, recognising the “appalling” way he was treated for being gay.
Alan Turing, a mathematician most famous for his work on breaking the German
Enigma codes, was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ in 1952 and sentenced to chem-
ical castration.
Gordon Brown’s statement came in response to a petition posted on the Number 10

website which has received thousands of signatures in recent months.
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2009 has been a year of deep reflection - a chance for Britain, as a nation, to com-
memorate the profound debts we owe to those who came before. A unique combin-
ation of anniversaries and events have stirred in us that sense of pride and gratit-
ude which characterise the British experience. Earlier this year I stood with Presid-
ents Sarkozy and Obama to honour the service and the sacrifice of the heroes who
stormed the beaches of Normandy 65 years ago. And just last week, we marked
the 70 years which have passed since the British government declared its willing-
ness to take up arms against Fascism and declared the outbreak of World War
Two. So I am both pleased and proud that, thanks to a coalition of computer scient-
ists, historians and LGBT activists, we have this year a chance to mark and celeb-
rate another contribution to Britain’s fight against the darkness of dictatorship; that
of code-breaker Alan Turing.
Turing was a quite brilliant mathematician, most famous for his work on breaking
the German Enigma codes. It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstand-
ing contribution, the history of World War Two could well have been very different.
He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution
helped to turn the tide of war. The debt of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more
horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely. In 1952, he was convicted
of ‘gross indecency’ - in effect, tried for being gay. His sentence - and he was faced
with the miserable choice of this or prison - was chemical castration by a series of
injections of female hormones. He took his own life just two years later.
Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and re-
cognition of the appalling way he was treated. While Turing was dealt with under
the law of the time and we can’t put the clock back, his treatment was of course ut-
terly 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 ter-
ribly. Over the years millions more lived in fear of conviction.
I am proud that those days are gone and that in the last 12 years this government
has done so much to make life fairer and more equal for our LGBT community. This
recognition of Alan’s status as one of Britain’s most famous victims of homophobia
is another step towards equality and long overdue.
But even more than that, Alan deserves recognition for his contribution to human-
kind. For those of us born after 1945, into a Europe which is united, democratic and
at peace, it is hard to imagine that our continent was once the theatre of mankind’s
darkest hour. It is difficult to believe that in living memory, people could become so
consumed by hate - by anti-Semitism, by homophobia, by xenophobia and other
murderous prejudices - that the gas chambers and crematoria became a piece of
the European landscape as surely as the galleries and universities and concert
halls which had marked out the European civilisation for hundreds of years. It is
thanks to men and women who were totally committed to fighting fascism, people
like Alan Turing, that the horrors of the Holocaust and of total war are part of
Europe’s history and not Europe’s present.
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.
Gordon Brown

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The Prime Minister has released a statement on the Second World War code-

Gordon Brown’s statement came in response to a petition posted on the Number 10

Read the statement

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