Alan Turing Had To Undergo Chemical Castration Because He Was Gay

He met young Arnold Murray in 1952 while walking home after seeing a movie. After striking up a discussion and going out to lunch, the couple quickly started dating. The events that would transpire would alter Alan's life forever. A friend of Murray's broke into his house around the end of January 1952. When Alan called the police to report the crime, they questioned him about his relationship to Murray. When Alan publicly admitted they were dating, Murray was also detained for "gross immorality". At that time, homosexuality would remain a crime in England until 1967.

Alan chose to plead guilty to the charges on the counsel of his brother, and after being found guilty, he was given the option of serving time in prison or a probationary period that included injections of synthetic oestrogen as "therapy" for his sexual orientation (chemical castration). Alan chose the latter, and for the following year he experienced gynecomastia and impotence (male breast enlargement). As a result of the authorities' perception that Alan's sexuality posed a threat to state secrets being obtained through blackmail, his security clearance at GCHQ (the organization that succeeded Bletchley Park) was also revoked. Alan also expressed concern that his sexuality would be used to discredit his intellectual ideas in a letter to his friend Norman Routledge. Alan maintained a rather positive attitude despite this state-approved torment and compared his last day in court to the sensation of "agreeable irresponsibility" that he frequently experienced at school.