ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF ALAN TURING

Early day motion 1634, tabled 6 June 2007 by Baroness Burt of Solihull (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 52 members.

That this House notes the vital contribution Alan Turing made to the British war effort during the 1940s, in particular his work decoding the Enigma machine; further notes Alan Turing's achievements in the fields of computing and mathematical biology; regrets that following his years of national service he received a criminal conviction for having a sexual relationship with another man; further regrets that he was forced to take oestrogen therapy or be sent to prison if he did not comply; finally regrets that he went on to take his own life on 8th June 1954 at the age of just 41 years; acknowledges the huge and unnecessary suffering that he and so many other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people have had to endure over the years due to legislation; further acknowledges that the suicide rate amongst LGBT teens remains unacceptably high due to informal societal pressure; and calls on the Government to introduce new measures to address these societal pressures, especially through attention to the issue of homophobic bullying in schools.

Signatures by party: Labour 31, Liberal Democrat 14, Scottish National Party 2, Conservative 1, DUP 1, Independent 1, Respect 1, UUP 1.