Call For 49,000 Gay UK Pardons

The Human Rights Campaign has joined British stars Stephen Fry & Benedict Cumberbatch in support of pardons for those who were punished along side Alan Turing just for being gay. Turning was the subject of the Oscar nominated film “The Imitation Game.” In 2013 Queen Elizabeth officially pardoned Alan Turing the renowned English mathematician who led the team that cracked Germany’s Enigma code which dramatically changing the course of WWII. In 1952 Turing was sentenced to “chemical castration” because of his sexuality & died two years later. Though Turing was pardoned thousands who were persecuted along side him were not. Stephen Fry stated, “Should Alan Turing have been pardoned just because he was a genius when somewhere between 50 to 70 thousand other men were imprisoned, chemically castrated, had their lives ruined or indeed committed suicide because of the laws under which Turing suffered?” Cumberbatch added, “Alan Turing was not only prosecuted, but quite arguably persuaded to end his own life early, by a society who called him a criminal for simply seeking out the love he deserved, as all human beings do. Sixty years later, that same government claimed to ‘forgive’ him by pardoning him. I find this deplorable, because Turing’s actions did not warrant forgiveness — theirs did — & the 49,000 other prosecuted men deserve the same." Chad Griffin HRC President concluded, “Winston Churchill said Alan Turing 'made the single biggest contribution to the Allied victory in World War II.' His crime was being gay. Over 49,000 other gay men & women were persecuted in England under the same law. Turing was pardoned by Queen Elizabeth II in 2013. The others were not. Honor this movie. Honor this man. And honor the movement to bring justice to the other 49,000."
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