Wilde posthumously pardoned when Turing's Law passes

In 2017, Alan Turing's Law passed, officially included in The Policing and Crime Act 2017. The law provided pardons to men convicted of homosexuality. Alan Turing was a mathematician who was known for his work on theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence. He was also known for decoding messages sent from the Nazi cipher machine “Enigma.” He shared this accolade with Gordon Welchman. As a result of anti-homosexuality laws in the UK, Turing was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 when he reported his male partner for burglary. Turing avoided prison by undergoing chemical castration, and committed suicide two years later. Turing was royally pardoned in 2013. The law was introduced into the bill to purge criminal records of all persons convicted of homosexuality. Wilde was convicted under the same law as Turing, Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885. As a result of the act passing, Wilde and aprox 75,000 other men convicted of homosexuality were pardoned. 

Sources:

Alan Turing Bio

Turing's Law

Wilde Among Those Pardoned

Associated Place(s)

Event date:

30 Jan 2017

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