please sign this e- petition

[deggers316]

to pardon Alan Turing
http://www.bbc.co.uk/...d-manchester-16061279

[Baldric]

No, I've looked him up, and as he was convicted at a time when homosexuality was illegal in this country, and he admitted to it, I see no reason for anyone to apologise for it (Gordon Brown).
To be honest I'm fed up with people saying sorry on behalf of the 'Nation' for things that happened in the past, when they were permitted, but are not legal now!

[mccfluff]

what happened to him and other homosexuals was wrong but i don't see what a pardon will do, it won't bring him back or change what was done.
If there are people who are living now who would benefit from a pardon and their "crimes" being removed from their records then i'm all for it

[ummmm]

Yes Baldric...but it does send out a message that the treatment of homosexuals was completely unacceptable.

[Baldric]

Unacceptable now, but not then.

[MarkRae]

We used to burn witches and send children up chimneys and down mines. Thankfully, we now live in more enlightened times where these and other practices no longer take place, but there's little point in trying to change the past in the light of experience.

Being an IT bod, Alan Turing is a particular hero of mine. He almost certainly did more to win the Second World War than any other individual, with the possible exception of Winnie. But he was sent down for admitting to an act which was illegal at the time. The fact that it isn't now simply serves to show that we have made progress in the reform of social justice. A posthumous pardon is nonsense in this case because it implies that he didn't commit the act, not that it shouldn't have been illegal in the first place. Who next, then? Oscar Wilde? Presumably we'd have to ban the publication of The Ballad of Reading Gaol, as Oscar should never have had occasion to write it!

[venator]

He certainly had a very raw deal.

His work was vital in winning the war, and went on to invent the computer, but he got no recognition.

He was driven to suicide by his inhumane treatment - surely that can't be justified by any law.

We owe this man so much - surely a posthumous award, such as a knighthood, would be appropriate.

I agree, however, that a pardon is out of keeping with the way the law works.

A pardon is given when someone is found to be innocent, and he did break the law.

[venator]

Didn't see your post, Mark, when I was writing mine - do you think Sir Alan would be a better bet, if it could be done?

[RATTER15]

Well I signed it anyway!!

[MarkRae]

Knighting a dead person - how would that work? Even if it were possible, what would it actually achieve. Far more important (to me, anyway) is the fact that he is (almost) unknown and his enormous contribution to winning the Second World War swept under the carpet, never mind his involvement in what later became the computer. That's what needs to be addressed, not that he was gay when being gay was illegal.

If this were America, we could have campaigned for "Turing Day"...

[RATTER15]

He was chemically castrated!! whatever that means, that deserves an apology!

[MarkRae]

Good for you, Ratter! Now start one for Oscar Wilde - it'll have just as little effect...

[RATTER15]

Ok, send me the petition!!! I'll send anything today, its just one of those days!!!

[mccfluff]

what was done to him (and others) was so so wrong but how will a pardon help? he's dead

[jackthehat]

I won't be signing it, either.
He deserves posthumous recognition for the things he achieved in his lifetime, and for the things he enabled to be achieved after it.
Pernicious as the law he broke was, it *was* the law and a pardon will serve no purpose.

[MarkRae]

What I would wholeheartedly endorse would be a statue of him outside the Science Museum in London unveiled by The Queen. And the statue should be as big, if not bigger, than the one of Nelson atop his column, as Turing contributed far more (IMO) to the defence of the realm than Nelson ever did...

[237SJ]

Let`s do one for Oscar Wilde, the Suffragettes and ethnic minorities who have been ill treated over the years while we`re at it. Yes, recognise the work of Alan Turing in some way, but I can`t see the point in harking back to the past to right all the wrongs. The world is in enough mess in the present day and the Government`s time should be spent on sorting that out and making sure that such injustices never happen again.

[jackthehat]

Agreed, Mark. I also think we need something a little more impressive than this......

http://www.mathcomp.l.../alanTuringStatue.jpg

[MarkRae]

Absolutely! It needs to be in our nation's capital where the greatest number of people will see it.

[RATTER15]

and it should have my name on it as the only person to sign his petition!

[atrollope]

^^Agree with MRae,The Queen unveiling a statue of Alan Turing,in London...leave it to her speechwriters to "gloss over" the past.