Alan Turing was a mathematical genius who made several significant contributions. He played a central role at Bletchley Park in cryptanalysis, helping to break the Nazi Enigma code, thus shortening the war and saving thousands of lives.

After the war he helped develop an early computer, naturally called the Turing Machine.

Then in the early 50’s he turned his attention to mathematical biology, writing a paradigm shifting paper on morphogenesis, a theory which now forms a part of chaos theory.

But there was a problem. He was gay.

And in 1952 he was arrested and charged with committing an act of indecency under Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, which outlawed homosexual sex. Turing was convicted and given a cruel choice. He could either go to gaol or be subjected to chemical castration. He chose the latter.

The chemical castration involved regular injections of oestrogen to suppress his libido. One of the side effects of oestrogen is depression and this is what happened to Turing. And in 1954, under the influence of depression, he committed suicide.

In 2009, then Prime Minister Brown publicly apologised for the treatment of Turing saying:


But this apology is NOT enough. A brilliant mind was destroyed because of the false beliefs of the Judeo-Christians, who even today, seek to persecute homosexuals. Such persecution is profoundly immoral.

What we need is an apology from the various Christian denominations and an admission that a brilliant mind was destroyed to satisfy their false morality.

Don’t hold your breath.