Alan Turing

by Albert Martinez

“We name the hated strangers and thus are confirmed in the tribe” (60) Ta-Nehisi Coates Between the World and Me

I made this painting of Alan Turing to spread the message that we should not judge someone nor their work by their background. We see this with the LGBTQ+ community, but also within other communities such as women, POC, and almost any other community that is seen as different in America/the world. Had Turing been alive today he would have gotten more work done because the LGBTQIA+ laws today are more relaxed.

Alan Turing, who helped break code during WW2 and invented the Turing Machine, was charged with gross indecency in 1952 after police discovered he was involved with the man he was living with. He was given an option, prison or chemical castration — he chose chemical castration. Turing was injected with hormones which made him impotent and actually caused breast tissue to form. He was denied access to the Government Communications Headquarters, where he was working, as well as denied access to the United States. Turing apparently killed himself two years later via cyanide poisoning from an apple.

Turing was one of the ‘hated strangers’ of the world that was ultimately killed for being himself. Hating him brought the world closer together, those who can’t accept differences. People for so long only accepted those who were very similar to them. Turing was very similar, until he wasn’t. When it was discovered that he was with a man, people saw him as an other and shut him out, strengthening their community. Although he wasn’t American, we can see that this way of thinking was prevalent around the world at one point, and is very much still alive today. Yes, there are successful LGBTQ+ people, but they still face struggles that their straight coworkers will never see.