What year was the first Turing Award given?

The Turing story...tragic, infuriating and indescribably sad. A blight on the honor of English Law of the mid 20th Century.

Adø Lunzi, He was not put to death by his country, but he was probably driven to end his life. After helping to shorten the war by years and saving probably millions of people, he was paid back by his "grateful" country with a choice. Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for being the same man he was when he cracked the Enigma code, i.e. being a homosexual. In fact, his work led to the development of the modern day computers we are so familiar with today! The Labouchere Amendment of 1885 had mandated that "gross indecency" (homosexual acts) was a criminal offence in the UK. As I said, he was given a choice of punishments. He accepted chemical castration treatment, with DES, as an alternative to prison. Turing died in 1954, 16 days before his 42nd birthday, from cyanide poisoning. An inquest determined his death as a suicide, but it has been noted that the known evidence is also consistent with accidental poisoning. The truth is, the chemical castration made him miserable and living that way was probably unbearable. My money is on the suicide of a war hero living under a backward and oppressive government.

William Laughlin, Excellent and accurate additional information. And where, exactly, do the Christian and Muslim worlds get the idea that there is something about homosexuality which demands change or severe punishment or, in some areas, death?

Richard D. Boyle, It's a mystery to me. Basically, religion is used to disguise prejudice. In all the writings about Christ, there is not a single passage in the Bible in which Christ condemned homosexuality in any way. Dogma is the cause of so many problems in this world.

William Laughlin, I agree that Jesus was silent on the issue but we need not look far to find the obvious sources in the OT as Leviticus 20-13 and Paul in the NT at Romans 1: 18-32 and l Corinthians 6: 9-11. There are several other indirect references such as the story of Lot and his daughters at Genesis 19:1-11 but Leviticus and Paul are most often cited by apologists for homophobic laws such as the one applied to Turing.

Darlene Davidson, What's almost over?

Will this Madness ever end? I doubt it.

William Laughlin, Sorry; I made a typo. Everyone knows Leviticus is in the OT.

Richard D. Boyle, Anything condemning homosexuality in the OT is made invalid by the NT. The passage most quoted and misinterpreted in the NT is the passage in Leviticus 18:22 "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination." What people fail to realize is that is more a property issue, wherein women were considered chattel. Men were not. The fact is, homosexuality is as natural as being blue eyed, color blind, or left handed. (Note the use of the Oxford comma) It occurs in almost every species of animal on the planet.

Double chance gets it, knew it could only be 66 or 97, thought 66 might've been too early knowing political climate in 60s