Alan Turing, a gay computer genius who was instrumental in World War II, received a posthumous apology from Prime Minister Gordon Brown for the state's persecution of Turing's homosexuality.
Turing's efforts in the war uncovered German military secrets and, according to BBC, shortened the war by two years.
Tried and convicted of homosexuality, he opted for chemical castration, a series of injected female hormones, rather than imprisonment. Two years later, he committed suicide.
After thousands had signed a petition for the government to apologize, Mr. Brown did so through an article in the Daily Telegraph.
Mr. Brown writes, “I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for happened to him. Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted as he was convicted, under homophobic laws, were treated terribly.”
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