Righting Past Wrongs

Righting Past Wrongs: "

When surveying the list of nations in the world in which homosexuality remains a crime and then reading news stories about countries, like India, that have recently decriminalized same-sex acts and relationships, it’s easy for the international community to pat itself on the back for a job well done and turn its attention to another region or issue. As two recent stories out of the UK have demonstrated, however, there are a host of issues that must be dealt with in a country long after homosexuality is formally legalized.

The first story is older, more high-profile and also largely symbolic for LGBT people in England. The modern component of the saga began last September when a petition for a formal apology from the British government gained sudden popularity:

A petition calling for a government apology to gay mathematician Alan Turing has reached 17,900 signatures.

It is now the eighth most popular petition on the Downing Street website. Only 500 signatures are needed for a government response.

For those rusty on both their English and mathematical histories (I’m guilty on both counts) Turing was an English mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist who is credited as being a major force in the creation of the modern computer. He was also the inventor the Turing machine, which helped to crack the German Enigma code during World War II. Oh, and he was also gay. When his sexual orientation was discovered in 1952, when it was still a crime in the UK, he “chose” treatment with female hormones, aka chemical castration, to keep himself out of prison. In 1954, Turing took his own life by ingesting a deadly dose of cyanide.

The formal petition read, in part: “The British Government should apologize to Alan Turing for his treatment and recognize that his work created much of the world we live in and saved us from Nazi Germany. And an apology would recognize the tragic consequences of prejudice that ended this man’s life and career.” The outpouring of support, which gained the support of renowned individuals such as Richard Dawkins, Ian McEwan, Peter Tachell and Stephen Fry and ultimately 30,805 signatories, resulted in Prime Minister Gordon Brown making an official statement a few weeks later:

Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated. While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can’t put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. 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.

I am proud that those days are gone and that in the last 12 years this government has done so much to make life fairer and more equal for our LGBT community. This recognition of Alan’s status as one of Britain’s most famous victims of homophobia is another step towards equality and long overdue… 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.

While many have felt that the apology was too little too late, history appears to be repeating itself today, except that the man in question is very much alive and is still suffering for past injustices:

John Crawford, a retired butler from London, was convicted in 1959 aged 19 for having consensual sex with another man. He told the Guardian he made a confession to the crime after being held in a cell and beaten for a week.

Mr. Crawford said he discovered the conviction remained on the police national computer (PNC) when he applied for a job as volunteer at Wormwood Scrubs prison eight years ago. He told the newspaper: “I saw John Crawford. 1959. Charged on two counts of buggery. Since then, I’ve analysed my life and found out the amount of my jobs that I’ve lost because I’ve got a criminal record.”

Now Crawford, with the help of a lawyer and a London-based LGBT charity, are going to court to fight so that other men won’t have to continue to be discriminated against the way he has been.

I am, much to my parents’ disappointment, no legal expert and I do not know if their crusade will be successful in court, but for those in the international community working towards true and holistic equality for queer individuals around the world this serves as an important lesson: Change doesn’t happen in a day – it has to happen every day.

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