Should Alan Turing be awarded a posthumous knighthood?

[Chelseafan]

4 hours ago, lungbing said:

Homosexuality was not illegal.   Acting upon it was. He was not prosecuted for being homosexual but for indecent assault.

You're splitting hairs and knew perfectly well what I meant and if we're playing that game, he wasn't prosecuted for indecent assault, he was prosecuted for gross indecency.

 

 

[bendejo]

Given that his name lives on in the sciences, and the "Turing Test" is very much part of computer science today (and will continue to be, in AI development) it would not hurt the image of Britain to bestow this on his name.  It is much better for the image of the nation than the whispered horror story of what he was put through, which is on the level of the torments bestowed by the Spanish Inquisition. 

His role in establishing what is now called computer science is as crucial as what Christopher Columbus did for understanding the geography of the planet.

But yeah, he's dead, doesn't do him any good now.

 

 

 

[Inn Between]

It makes no difference to me or anybody really, but if he is regarded very highly in British society, is it enough to lump him in with the 3000 or so people who are offered a knighthood EVERY YEAR?

 

I thought being "Sir..." was more special that that, even if it includes BBC perverts and other undesirables. Surprising! 

Edited July 30, 2019 by Inn Between

[RJRS1301]

9 hours ago, Chelseafan said:

I disagree with you. I think on the whole we are more accepting. If you go back 60 years being seen in the same circles of someone who was gay would alienate you from society, not so much these days.

 

You are always going to get homphobes in life, for these people there is no hope and frankly they are a waste of oxygen.

 

Random acts of homophobic violence continue ,and appear to be surprisingly on the rise in some areas. Yes there have been vast improvements over the past years, but still a long way to go before many will feel safe in their communities.

[thaibeachlovers]

18 hours ago, BobBKK said:

No because there are 100s of such cases and to do so would set a precedent. But he was a great man and deserves recognition and honours and how GB treated him is contemptible.

He deserves some high award and a public apology from the Queen on behalf of the country and the government. He saved Britain and the free world from Nazi domination ( along with R J Mitchell, Churchill and the millions of Russian and allied servicemen that died ). We owe him the greatest debt of all because of the diabolical way he was treated after. Shame on all of them.

[camble]

Certainly he should be awarded, for his contribution and service as well as his persecution.

[camble]

Turing was a "War Hero", in an unconventional sense, decades before Russian hackers.  So give him his due, he was decades ahead of his time.

[gk10002000]

On 7/30/2019 at 1:07 AM, RJRS1301 said:

The knighthood is useless

Perhaps a monument to him, with an apology from the authorities engraved at the base, in a prominent place maybe outside the Old Bailey. 

I like your idea.  A monument not necessarily focusing on him, but as a reminder of mindless, senseless, persecution and prosecution without any rational or proper basis.  So many things could apply besides just a homosexuality issue.  Anything that is viciously pursued and unjustly so. Vigilance must be maintained to avoid such things

[tifino]

... more likely a Sainthood! 

 - he certainly performed a few miracles...    and virtually Joan D'Arc'ed in the end