200 Years of LGBTQIA+ History

From Shadows to Pride — UK & Global Timeline

Source Record

Royal pardon for WW2 code-breaker Dr Alan Turing

Why this source is used

Official UK Government release on Alan Turing's royal pardon and the effect of his gross indecency conviction.

Start with the answer

Start with the answer Which LGBTQ+ public figures changed visibility? They changed visibility in politics, science, activism and literature by showing that queer lives could be public, influential and historic. Read the topic guide Queer Public Trailblazers Queer public trailblazers made LGBTQ+ lives visible across science, civil rights, elected office and trans liberation, often while facing erasure or punishment.

Source Status

Publisher
Ministry of Justice / GOV.UK
Type
government
Reliability
high
Cited by
3 pages

Source Links

Open original source https://www.gov.uk/government/news/royal-pardon-for-ww2-code-breaker-dr-alan-turing Accessed 2 June 2026 Open archived copy https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/*/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/royal-pardon-for-ww2-code-breaker-dr-alan-turing

Used by Topics

Queer Public Trailblazers

Used by Questions

Which LGBTQ+ public figures changed visibility?

Used by Timeline Events

1945 CulturalDiscriminationLegalUKPeople

Alan Turing’s Codebreaking Saves Lives

Alan Turing played a pivotal role in cracking the Enigma code during WWII, work estimated to have shortened the war by two years and saved millions of lives. Despite this extraordinary contribution, he was prosecuted for homosexuality in 1952, subjected to chemical castration, and died in 1954 in circumstances widely believed to be suicide.