The bureaucratic absurdity of pardoning a man who has been dead for 70 years

Society · Published 19 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 2013, the British government granted a royal pardon to Alan Turing. But for decades, his conviction for 'gross indecency' remained a permanent stain on his record. Today, a new law seeks to scrub the past for thousands of others, yet the process remains a complex, often insulting, bureaucratic hurdle.

The legal landscape for gay men in Britain was shaped by a 1885 amendment to the Criminal Law Amendment Bill, which introduced the crime of 'gross indecency.' This legislation effectively criminalized private, consensual sex between men. It wasn't until 1967 that the Sexual Offences Act finally legalized such acts for those over 21. Despite this progress, the convictions from the preceding era were never automatically wiped from the books, leaving a legacy of 'branding' for those who survived the era of persecution.

Alan Turing, the renowned codebreaker and computing pioneer, was one of the primary casualties of this legal framework. In 1952, he was convicted of gross indecency and forced to undergo what was then considered 'treatment'—a course of psychotherapy and hormone therapy. These treatments were based on circular logic and lacked modern peer review, yet they were imposed as conditions of his probation. While the government issued an apology in 2009 and a royal pardon in 2013, the Policing and Crime Act 2017—informally known as the Alan Turing Law—was required to extend these protections to others.

The current pardon policy faces significant criticism for its 'application' model. Rather than an automatic removal of records, eligible individuals—some in their 70s or 80s—must proactively apply to the Home Secretary. Critics argue this forces survivors to relive their trauma and navigate a bureaucratic analysis of their past guilt. Furthermore, early versions of the law were criticized for being too narrow, omitting low-level offences like 'solicitation by men,' which could result in arrests for simple flirting. For a community that suffered decades of stigmatization, the current legislative response is often viewed as 'too little, too late.'

Roughly 65,000 British males faced convictions for offences linked to same-sex acts historically. It is estimated that around 15,000 of these men are still alive. For them, the pardon is not just a legal technicality; it is a delayed attempt to rectify a century of state-sponsored isolation that impacted their careers, families, and personal dignity.

General information, not professional advice. Spotted an error? Flag the card or see corrections and complaints.

Intellect Plus is a visual educational discovery platform for exploring fascinating facts and ideas. Brain Food, Not Brain Rot. What is Intellect Plus?

Related

• From criminalisation to equality: the complex, shifting landscape of LGBTQ rights in Britain
• Why the British military ban on gay soldiers lasted until 2000
• The law that turned 'joyriding' hackers into serious criminals
• Why do 62 nations still criminalize homosexuality, often using laws from the colonial era?
• The Victorian critic who pioneered gay history while hiding in plain sight
• How moral crusades and secret profits form a perfect political alliance
• How a global pandemic reshaped the Louisiana primary schedule
• When institutions silence victims, the cost is often measured in lives
• The 72-day stalemate that paralyzed Afghanistan’s 2019 presidential election
• The high-stakes logistics of the democratic ground game
• When private party emails become a public weapon of political warfare
• The judge who stood against the crowd on Capitol Hill charges

More in Society · Latest · A–Z · All topics