Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!sun-barr!sun!falk
From: falk@sun.Eng.Sun.COM (Ed Falk)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Alan Turing's birthday
Keywords: computer science
Message-ID: <112939@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>
Date: 29 Jun 89 01:35:47 GMT
References: <3029@ihuxy.ATT.COM> <2759@ssc-vax.UUCP> <13882@haddock.ima.isc.com>
Distribution: na
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc. - Mtn View, CA
Lines: 21


> In article <2759@ssc-vax.UUCP> coy@ssc-vax.UUCP (Stephen B Coy) says:
> ]I think this would also be a good time to remember the pain and
> ]suffering that bigotry imposes on the world.  We should all take a
> ]moment to examine our own attitudes and actions.  The best way to
> ]honor Alan Turing is to insure that no person is ever treated as he
> ]was.
> ]Stephen Coy
> 
> Please elaborate....

Turing was gay.  He stupidly mentioned this to a cop who was investigating
a burglary and was prosecuted for it.  The court convicted him and
sentenced him to "chemical castration"; they put him on drugs that
completely shut down his sex drive.  The drugs had quite a number
of unpleasant side effects, one of which is severe depression.  Turing
committed suicide, probably as a consequence of the drugs.

For the whole story, I *highly* reccomend "The Enigma, Alan Turing"
which is an excelent biography of Turing.  There was also a play, "Breaking
the Code" written about him, also excelent.