Another indication of the salutory moral power of online activism surfaced earlier today. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has responded promptly and with evident sincerity to the petitioners whose message DarkSyde previously drew to our attention.
As a followup to DarkSyde's timely diaryof a few days ago, drawing attention to a 10 Downing Street public petition to recognize the epic injustice done to computing genius and Second World War hero Alan Turing...
Today, as a petitioner I received this email from Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office.
There is a press release version here.
Key excerpts:
"[J]ust last week, we marked the 70 years which have passed since the British government declared its willingness to take up arms against Fascism and declared the outbreak of World War Two. So I am both pleased and proud that, thanks to a coalition of computer scientists, historians and LGBT activists, we have this year a chance to mark and celebrate another contribution to Britain’s fight against the darkness of dictatorship; that of code-breaker Alan Turing."
The Prime Minister employs no euphemism in referring to Turing's appalling fate.
"In 1952, he was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ – in effect, tried for being gay. His sentence – and he was faced with the miserable choice of this or prison - was chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones. He took his own life just two years later."
"It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of World War Two could well have been very different. He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war."
Prime Minister Brown makes clear that Turing's exceptionalism was in his personal accomplishment, not that he was in any way uniquely maltreated:
"Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted as he was convicted under homophobic laws were treated terribly. Over the years millions more lived in fear of conviction."
Brown also underlines the moral significance of homophobia in a forceful and compelling context:
"It is difficult to believe that in living memory, people could become so consumed by hate – by anti-Semitism, by homophobia, by xenophobia and other murderous prejudices – that the gas chambers and crematoria became a piece of the European landscape as surely as the galleries and universities and concert halls which had marked out the European civilisation for hundreds of years."
and then concludes this landmark apology in very personal and straightforward terms:
"So on behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan’s work I am very proud to say: we’re sorry, you deserved so much better."
Please note that I am not a Gordon Brown fan; however, this apology strikes me as very well done indeed.
Fair use: I believe these are salient extracts from a broadcast government email to the public, without copyright claim.
UPDATE: Woohoo! Rec List'd -- many thanks to all!