Online Petition Seeks Pardon for Turing
Thousands of people in the United Kingdom have signed a petition asking the government to offer a posthumous pardon for Turing’s 1952 conviction on charges of gross indecency. Almost 18,000 people have signed the e-petition. If 100,000 people sign the petition, the issue becomes eligible for discussion in the House of Commons.
Professor Barry Cooper, Chair of the Turing Centenary Committee, tells The Guardian he supports the effort. “A pardon from the Government in the centenary year of Turing’s birth would be warmly welcomed by his family, friends, colleagues and those in the scientific community who have benefited from the foundations he laid.”
Not everyone supports the effort for this pardon. John Graham-Cumming organized the successful 2009 petition to seek an apology for Turing from the Government. “A pardon for simply Turing would be unjust to other gay men who suffered under the law,“ says Graham-Cumming. “There are men alive today living in Britain with a criminal record because of offences committed during the time the law was in force.”
Actor Stephen Fry said, “Turing needs no pardon. He did no wrong other than break a wicked law.” Read more.