‘Alan Turing law’ to posthumously pardon thousands of men convicted for being gay

The government has announced its commitment to posthumously pardoning gay men historically convicted for having consensual same-sex relationships, in a move welcomed by family members and campaigners, as well as legal bodies such as the Law Society.

Gay men used to be convicted in their thousands under gross indecency laws, simply for being in consensual same-sex relationships. Since then, many men have died with these convictions still on their records, while others are still living with them today. LGBT campaigners have been working for decades to convince the UK government to remove these offences from people’s records through posthumous pardons, but it took the famous case of one such wrongly convicted man, Alan Turing, to stir politicians to action.

Turing is probably the most well-known gay man to have been convicted under previous gross indecency laws. Turing was a computer scientist, mathematician and cryptanalyst who successfully decrypted the ‘Enigma’ coding system for secret messages used by the Nazis during the Second World War, which Winston Churchill said was “the single biggest contribution to allied victory” in the war. But despite being a hero among the Allies, Turing was convicted and later chemically castrated through female hormone injections for the crime (as it was legally at the time) of being gay. Turing’s enduring legacy and unfair treatment led to a long campaign to have him pardoned individually, and he received a pardon, long after his death, in 2013. But now, after yet more campaigning, the government has finally committed to posthumously exonerating the thousands of other gay men who were convicted under the same offences, but whose cases were not as famous as Turing’s, through an amendment to the Policing and Crime Bill.

Although anyone living who has been convicted of now-abolished offences can already apply to have any mention of those offences removed from their records, the move to provide proper pardons goes much further in acknowledging and apologising for past mistreatment – although people will still have to apply to have their cases looked at individually. Justice Minister Sam Gyamah rejected calls for a blanket pardon, saying: “A blanket pardon, without the detailed investigations carried out by the Home Office under the disregard process, could see people guilty of an offence which is still a crime today claiming to be pardoned.”

Rachel Barnes, great niece of Alan Turing and a stalwart campaigner for posthumous pardons for gay men, commented:  “This is a momentous day for all those who have been convicted under the historic laws, and for their families. The gross indecency law ruined peoples’ lives. As Alan Turing received a pardon, it is absolutely right that those who were similarly convicted should receive a pardon as well. It is great news for all those who have worked so hard for years to bring about this new legislation.”