Today is Alan Turing's birthday.

[Bill W]

Alan Mathison Turing (23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and philosopher who is often called the "father of the modern computer". While he didn't invent the computer, he mathematically proved that computation was possible with a limited set of operations. He also conceptualized a "universal machine" that could solve any mathematical problem in symbolic form, later known as a "universal Turing machine".  

He was convicted of "gross indecency" in 1952 for homosexual acts, which was illegal in the UK at the time.  As an alternative to prison, he accepted chemical castration.  He later died in 1954 from cyanide poisoning, ruled a suicide. 

[Bill W]

In other words, because the state punished a man for committing an act that hurt no one else, the state ruined his reputation and his life, which caused him to commit suicide at the age of 41 - just 16 days short of his 42nd birthday.  

Edited June 23, 2025 by Bill W

[Zombie]

1 hour ago, Bill W said:

In other words, because the state punished a man for committing an act that hurt no one else, the state ruined his reputation and his life, which caused him to commit suicide at the age of 41 - just 16 days short of his 42nd birthday.  

I understand that the same was sadly true at this time in many (most?) states of the US (Bowers v Hardwick 1986)

feel free to add as much further detail as you wish, and/or correct me if I’m wrong

 

 

Edited June 23, 2025 by Zombie

[chris191070]

It was a bad time to be gay in the UK, as it wasn't legalised until 1967 and then it was 21 or over. In 1994 that was lowered to 18. In 2000 it was lowered to 16, the same age as heterosexual sex.

I was born in 1970, so I was always on edge as I was breaking the law whenever I had sex, so scary times.

[wildone]

Hey all, I really appreciate this discussion.

Just it is gentle reminder that when getting into discussion about gay rights, court cases, etc. they usually involve politics. So we do need to be aware of that. 

Yes, we are a gay site and encourage discussion of gay issues, just some sides don't see the route or fruition of rights as being done by one side or the other and are happy to hand out blame. 

If you would like me to move to the Pit so it can have a more in depth discussion of the comparison of gay rights to back then to now, let me know.