Petition launched to name Bank Holiday after Alan Turing

A petition has been launched urging the government to rename the August Bank Holiday after Alan Turing.

The government are currently looking into the possibility of renaming the late summer holiday after Margaret Thatcher, which has been met with opposition.

The bill to make the change to ‘Margaret Thatcher Day’ will have its second reading on February 28.

Turing – a mathematician and codebreaker who played an instrumental part in defeating the Nazis – was prosecuted for gross indecency in 1952, after it was discovered that he was in a homosexual relationship.

He was sentenced to chemical castration and later committed suicide in 1954.

Turing was granted a posthumous pardon by the Queen on December 23 under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy.

The ‘Alan Turing Day’ petition has attracted over 300 signatures at the time of writing, but requires 100,000 supporters to be considered for debate in the House of Commons. Click here if you wish to sign it.

Turing was featured on the cover of last year’s Attitude Awards Issue (Issue 237).