Will the UK Apologize for Gay Science Giant Alan Turing's Persecution, Death?

Alan Turing was a mathematician who proposed not only the creation of a "thinking machine," or early version of the computer, but also contemplated the differences between human and machine thought, coining the famous "Turing test." He also helped in British efforts to crack Nazi codes in World War II.

But as a TIME Magazine article on the 100 most influential people of the 20th Century noted, the pioneering scientist was not spared persecution based on his sexual identity: when it became known to the British authorities that he was gay in 1952, Turing was charged and convicted of "gross indecency." He was forced to take hormone treatments until he killed himself two years later, at age 41.

Now there may be justice, albeit delayed, for Turing and others whose lives were ruined by the (now long-repealed) anti-gay laws in Britain that made it a crime to be homosexual.

A petition--open to British citizens and residents--has been launched to demand an apology from the British government for the way Turning was treated.

Computer scientist John Graham-Cumming, the petition's author, explains who Turing was an what his contributions meant, not just to Britain, but to the entire free world.

"Alan Turing was the greatest computer scientist ever born in Britain," text available at the petition's Web site reads.

"He laid the foundations of computing, helped break the Nazi Enigma code and told us how to tell whether a machine could think.

"He was also gay," the text continues. "He was prosecuted for being gay, chemically castrated as a 'cure', and took his own life, aged 41."

Adds the text, "The British Government should apologize to Alan Turing for his treatment and recognize that his work created much of the world we live in and saved us from Nazi Germany.

"And an apology would recognize the tragic consequences of prejudice that ended this man's life and career."

The text on the petition itself is simple and to the point.

"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to apologize for the prosecution of Alan Turing that led to his untimely death," the petition reads.

Scientists continue to look Turing as a genius who helped pave the way to the Information Age.

An Aug. 16 article at the Manchester Evening News quoted Graham-Cumming as saying, "I think that Alan Turing hasn't been recognized in Britain for his enormous contribution because he died in his forties and almost certainly because he was gay."

Graham-Cumming deplored the way Turing--who had been awarded the Order of the British Empire for his wartime service and his role in helping defeat the notorious Enigma Code--was treated, despite his contributions and merely because of his sexuality.

"It is atrocious that we don't recognize this man and the only way to do so is to apologize to him.

"This man was a national treasure and we hounded him to his death," Graham-Cumming declared.

"One of the things for people in the computing world is that he was part of the war effort but we don't give him recognition in the same way as other heroes," added Graham-Cumming. "To me, he was a hero in the second world war."

The article noted that the Turing Award, named for the computer science pioneer, is the "computing world's equivalent of the Nobel Prize," and has been awarded for the past 43 years.

The article noted that homosexuality was decriminalized in Britain in 1967.