[allsummer]

A heterosexual 40-year-old man with top-level security clearance, access to sensitive information, and the skill set of Turing, getting involved with Eastern European strays, at the start of the Cold War, possibly compromising himself, would not have received the same punishment, but likely would not have been spared jail time.

Cruel? From the lens of modern times, certainly. But don't we still chemically castrate certain sex offenders?

[dxdm]

> A heterosexual ... would not have received the same punishment, but likely would not have been spared jail time.

I don't know if we can make the assumption that it was his being gay that spared him the jail time, or if other considerations were at play; and if another man benefiting from the same considerations but with different preferences would have been treated (edit: clarifying) more leniently, i.e. no chemical castration, as you say. And together with the following:

> But don't we still chemically castrate certain sex offenders?

This goes back to the view back then of homosexuality as sexual (and criminal?) deviance. I feel like we're pretty much back at the point of his sexuality being the reason for the chemical castration.

[tim333]

If they are behaving in a iffy manner but have not actually leaked secrets they would probably just be fired or transfered.