UPDATE: Support grows for Alan Turing apology

UPDATE: On Monday we reported on John Graham-Cumming's bid to get a posthumous apology for for groundbreaking computer scientist, mathematician and codebreaker Alan Turing, over his conviction for homosexuality.

Graham-Cumming's has submitted a petition to Downing Street seeking an apology for Turing, who was awarded the OBE for his wartime service.

Earlier today the gay humanist charity the Pink Triangle Trust (PTT) reported that thousands of people have been signing the petition over the last few days. The organisation state that more than 2,500 people have now added their name to the on-line petition calling for the Government to recognise the "consequences of prejudice" that ended the life of the scientist aged just 41. On going to press 3,705 people have now signed the petition; meaning that 1000 people have signed the petition over the course of the day, thanks to the widespread media attention that the campaign has garnered.

The PTT have also wecomed the news that best selling author and scientist Richard Dawkins has backed the campaign.

Professor Dawkins said that an apology would "send a signal to the world which needs to be sent", and that Turing would still be alive today if it were not for the repressive, religion-influenced laws which drove him to despair.

Turing committed suicide just two years after his conviction for homosexuality.

Dawkins the author of The God Delusion, is due to present a forthcoming television programme for Channel 4 on Turing, said the impact of themathematician's war work could not be overstated. "Turing arguably made a greater contribution to defeating the Nazis than Eisenhower or Churchill. Thanks to Turing and his 'Ultra' colleagues at Bletchley Park, Allied
generals in the field were consistently, over long periods of the war, privy to detailed German plans before the German generals had time to implement them.

"After the war, when Turing's role was no longer top-secret, he should have been knighted and fêted as a saviour of his nation. Instead, this gentle, stammering, eccentric genius was destroyed, for a 'crime', committed in private, which harmed nobody."

Andrew Gilliver - Communications Manager of the Lesbian & Gay Foundation also celebrated Turing's achievements and got behing the campaign to posthumously apologise to Turing, he said:

“Manchester’s LGB&T community have long campaigned for more recognition of Alan Turing and it is fitting that there is a statue of Turing in Sackville Gardens, in the heart of the city’s gay village.

The Lesbian & Gay Foundation strongly support the petition to achieve a posthumous apology for Alan Turing.”

To sign the petition, click here.

There is still time to vote for Alan Turing as your homo hero, for more information, click here.

17/08/09: BID TO GET APOLOGY FOR TURING GATHERS PACE

More than 500 sign petition to get posthumous apology for gay scientist and mathematician synonomous with Manchester

The campaign to win a posthumous apology for groundbreaking computer scientist and mathematician Alan Turing over his conviction for homosexuality is gathering pace.

Today the Manchester Evening News has revealed that over 500 people have signed the Downing Street petition to get an official apology from the British Government for the way Turing was treated.

He was charged with gross indecency in 1952, after admitting to a relationship with Arnold Murray; homosexuality was illegal in Britain at the time. He opted to take hormone treatment which lowered libido rather than serve a custodial sentence. The prosecution effectively ended his career, he committed suicide two years later aged 41. There is a statue in tribute of Turing in Manchester's Sackville Gardens.

Turing is considered the father of modern computer science; working at Manchester University he worked on the Manchester Mark 1 one of the world's earliest computers.

During the Second World War, he worked at Bletchley Park, Britain's codebreaking centre, where he devised a number of techniques for breaking German codes. He was awarded the OBE for wartime service in 1945.

The story has received a mixed response on the MEN's comments board, many feel that an apology is in order and that Turing's life and legacy should be celebrated, while others seem to see it as an example of political correctness getting out of hand.

However, on a positive note, Turing was voted among the top 20 homo heroes on lgf.org.uk last week. The poll recognised people in the public eye who had made people sit up and take notice of LGB&T issues. The top 20 homo heroes will make up an important part of the Lesbian & Gay Foundation's Manchester Pride parade entry.

A wide range of factors motivated the votes for Turing. Peter Jocob said he voted for the mathematician "for being a genius who changed the world, but having his genius and achievements disregarded just for being gay - and subjected to and destroyed by inhumane punishment for his 'crime'". While another LGF online user said he voted for Turing "for his work on computers, no computers, no Gaydar!"

British computer expert - John Graham-Cumming - is responsible for the petition to get Turing a posthumous apology. To sign up to the petition, click here.

Also, we still want to know about your personal homo heroes, email them into Joanne.Dunning@lgf.org.uk or for more information on the homo heroes campaign, click here.