Decoding Alan Turing by tsevis

Alan Turing pardoned

(Decoding Alan Turing by tsevis, Creative Commons)

We’ve long campaigned for the pardoning of Alan Turing on this blog, so glad to hear that as of today he is pardoned. 61 years too late, and why did it take so long? At least now the record is expunged, and that along with the freeing of the rest of Pussy Riot it’s been a great Christmas present – but also a reminder that the fight goes on.

So what about the estimated 50,000 other men who were similarly prosecuted for gross indecency (for basically being gay, bisexual or queer – that law was almost never used for non-GBTQ people, and lesbianism was never prohibited legally in the UK) during those dark days?

Will they get pardons?

To say that it makes my blood boil what the police, court system and Government did, with entrapment, homophobia and malice did to all those men is an understatement. Destroying their lives, many committed suicide or had to suffer unpleasant jail sentences and social approbation. I don’t think there can be true reconciliation and truth between the LGBTQ and the powers that be, especially the police who liked to up their quota and reinforce moral by ‘nicking a few queers’.

The trust will NEVER be completely there in the community until these ghosts are put to rest.

Comments

Leave a Comment! Be nice….

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.