September 12, 2009
The Homophobic Legacy
I think it’s important to note that there is a Homophobic Legacy in this world. And thankfully the United Kingdom just took a step to address that legacy. A legacy that is tragic and horrific.
Alan Turing was a brilliant mathematician who helped the United Kingdom (and in turn the Allied Forces) break codes to defeat the Third Reich. He was instrumental in turning the tide of World War II. His theories later became key in creating the modern day computer. So here is a man who is perhaps one of the world’s greatest heroes in fighting and ending the Nazi regime and also one of the pioneers in laying the necessary groundwork for the very computer that I’m typing on right now. And what happened? Due to the fact that he was homosexual the government just a few years after he helped save them from Nazi occupation ruled that he had to either go to prison or face chemical castration. He chose the latter. Tragically, he died two years later in a death that should have been prevented. Ultimately he killed himself – and it should be noted that he didn’t need to do this and that there are ways of getting help always when one is feeling suicidal.
Nonetheless, Alan Turing, one of the world’s most heroic individuals was punished for nothing by the same government to which he helped save. The Prime Minister of the UK Gordon Brown has now issued an apology on behalf of Great Britain for the terrible thing they did to one of their own heroes. This came about because of a popular petition in recent days.
The legacy of what happened to Alan Turing is of course incredibly tragic. But it is not an isolated incident – it is connected to the Homophobic Legacy that is still very much alive not only in the UK but in the United States as well. Dumbledore says we all have choices. Those who wish to be part of the same legacy whose greatest achievements have been punishing heroes that’s their choice.
There is another legacy. A legacy of love. A legacy of courage. A legacy of decency and honor and trust. That is the legacy that Alan Turing is part of. That is the legacy that I think most of us wish to be the ambassadors of in our lives and our world every day.
Marie
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I had never heard of this before! The name Alan Turing is very familiar, in fact I think I looked him up on Wikipedia a few years ago for a math class, but I’m fairly certain I never heard about THIS. I’m glad you brought it to my (our) attention… and I’m glad PM Brown issued an apology for it, because that’s truly horrible. I feel like in some ways our world today has advanced so far – after all, I don’t think the US would force someone to make the choice Turing had to make – but in others we have such a far way to go, especially when very relevant issues like this are never addressed in school (at least not in mine…) and not many of us have heard of this kind of horror. I always appreciate it when you bring GLBTQ issues up, because there’s so much opportunity in day-to-day life to NOT think about any of it, no matter how directly it may affect us or those we love. So thank you. I’d love to hear more about this issue if you come across any other stories like this one… or maybe one that’s not as sad?
To love!
Marie
Carol Gundlach
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I heard this story on National Public Radio and it just broke my heart. I thought of all the brilliant gay and lesbian people I know, and thought “what a terrible waste and what a terrible human tragedy”. I am glad that the PM sought to repair the historical record and to pay England’s tribute to a man who help all the free world be safe from a fascist victory.
Renee A. Orrantia
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I am a firm believer that all people are created equal, no matter what their race, religion, sex or sexual affiliation is. The fact that a person who helped to create a better world was punished for something that made him a remarkable human being is deplorable. All people should be treated as people, and not as anything less than that. Some people treat their pets with more respect and dignity than this man and many other men and women have been. I want to thank all men and women who have come out and announced to the world that they are homosexual, because that takes an immense amount of courage and bravery. Men and women who can be brave enough to share with people who they really are are the real heroes of this world.