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by allsummer 738 days ago
> You don't think his gayness was a factor at all?

It was a factor, but not directly. I believe Turing's gayness is being pink washed. The way I see it, the UK was not castrating people for being gay, but gave this option after breaking indecency laws and being convicted for it.

> particularly after the facts started coming to light

Turing went to police to file a report and casually (perhaps ignorantly or haughtily) admitted to breaking a law.

1 comments

> Turing went to police to file a report and casually (perhaps ignorantly or haughtily) admitted to breaking a law.

Yes I agree, but (and I'm honestly asking because I don't know) was it one of those laws that nobody really took seriously or that was still on the books even though it was never enforced? Or was it a crime that was enforced at the time?

Edit: Unrelated to above, but from parent comment, I hadn't heard of "pink washing" before so just dropping a link for others who might not have heard of it either: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinkwashing_(LGBT)

The law was enforced, but it seems Turing did not take it seriously. He was openly gay since university, complained the law was stupid, was unapologetic in court, and sought out "sex vacations" after his conviction.
You say (correctly) that there was a law against gay sex, and that this law was enforced, but also that Turing's prosecution and punishment under this law (after admitting to a police officer that he'd had gay sex) somehow had nothing directly to do with his being gay. I'm not quite sure how you square that circle.
There are laws against rape. Someone prosecuted and punished for rape has nothing directly to do with them being male or a sadist.

Being married is a hard prerequisite for being able to commit marital rape. You don't have to be gay to have gay sex that the authorities learn about.

But Turing was gay, and that’s why he had gay sex. You yourself described him as “openly gay”.