The head of Britain's security agency GCHQ has apologized for its ban on homosexuals which led to the dismissal and subsequent suicide of one of its most brilliant code breakers, Alan Turing, in the 1950s.
Satellite dishes are seen at GCHQ's outpost at Bude, close to where
trans-Atlantic fibre-optic cables come ashore in Cornwall, southwest
England June 23, 2013. REUTERS/Kieran Doherty
LONDON: The head of Britain's security agency GCHQ has
apologized for its ban on homosexuals which led to the dismissal and
subsequent suicide of one of its most brilliant code breakers, Alan
Turing, in the 1950s.
Robert Hannigan told a gay rights workplace conference in
London that Turing had been an example to others because he was not
afraid to think "differently and radically", according to a statement
released by GCHQ.
"(I want to) say how sorry I am that he and so many others were
treated in this way," Hannigan said. "Their suffering was our loss."
GCHQ's ban on homosexuals was only lifted in the 1990s.
The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is one of
three intelligence and security agencies in Britain, along with MI5, the
domestic spy agency and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), which
gathers intelligence from abroad.
The agencies had historically seen homosexuals as a security risk, considering them much more vulnerable to blackmail.
In an illustration of how far attitudes to homosexuality in
Britain have changed, earlier this year MI5 was rated the country's most
gay-friendly employer. Just six years ago it had ranked at 134th in the
index.
Hannigan paid homage to Turing, subject of the film 'The
Imitation Game', for his mathematical genius which cracked a German code
and shortened World War Two. He also created the world's first digital
computer.
Turing was dismissed in the 1950s, prosecuted for his sexuality and chemically castrated. He killed himself in 1954.
"To do our job, which is solving some of the hardest
technology problems the world faces for security reasons, we need all
talents and we need people who dare to think differently and be
different," Hannigan said.
"We need different backgrounds, experiences, intellects,
sexualities, because it is in mixing all of those together that you get
the creativity and innovation we desperately need."
(Reporting By Elisabeth O'Leary; Editing by Gareth Jones)
- Reuters
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