British spooks at GCHQ have decided to show us all how right-on and progressive they are when they aren't spying on our emails, texts and telephone calls by lighting their "Doughnut" building in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire into a rainbow to celebrate International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.
GCHQ previously operated at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire where gay Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing worked to beat the German Enigma code.
Until the early 1990s, being gay was a bar to working at GCHQ.
What's at the end of a rainbow? A spy base: GCHQ to be lit up in multi-colour to show support for people of different sexualities
Display marks International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
Spy agency GCHQ, formed in 1919 as GC&CS, previously operated at Bletchley Park during WW2
Gay codebreaker Alan Turing worked at Bletchley to beat German Enigma
By Mail on Sunday Reporter
17 May 2015
Daily Mail
Spy agency GCHQ will be lit up with a rainbow today to highlight its stance against prejudice towards people of different sexualities.
The display marks International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.
GCHQ previously operated at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire where gay Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing worked to beat the German Enigma code.
Until the early 1990s, being gay was a bar to working at GCHQ in Cheltenham.
Spy agency GCHQ lit up in rainbow lights to highlight its stance against prejudice towards people of different sexuality. Gay codebreaker Alan Turing worked for the agency when it was based at Bletchley Park during the Second World War
Mr Turing’s nephew Sir John Dermot Turing said he was ‘delighted’ by GCHQ’s gesture, adding: ‘My uncle made a crucial contribution to the safety of the nation but due to society’s attitude at that time he was forced to hide his sexuality.
‘It is important that his successors at GCHQ today are free to be themselves, and therefore bring their talents to such vital work.’
Alan Turing was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 and killed himself in 1954.
He was granted a posthumous pardon by the Queen in 2013.
GCHQ director Robert Hannigan said: ‘I’m proud of our diverse and creative workforce.’
Aerial view of the GCHQ spy agency, which was decorated with multi-coloured lights in support of the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
THE CODEBREAKER ALAN TURING
Computer scientist and mathematician Alan Turing, who worked at Bletchley Park during the Second World War, was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts but received a posthumous pardon in 2013
Alan Turing (born June 1912) was a British computer scientist, mathematician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and marathon runner.
During the Second World War, he worked at Britain's codebreaking centre Bletchley Park for GC&CS, which changed its name to GCHQ in 1946.
He devised a number of techniques for breaking German ciphers, and his pivotal role in cracking intercepted coded messages enabled the Allies to defeat the Nazis in many crucial engagements, including the Battle of the Atlantic.
It has been estimated that the work at Bletchley Park shortened the war in Europe by as many as two to four years.
Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts, when such behaviour was still criminalised in the UK.
He accepted treatment with oestrogen injections (chemical castration) as an alternative to prison, but died in 1954 from cyanide poisoning.
In 2009, following an Internet campaign, Prime Minister Gordon Brown made an official public apology on behalf of the British government for 'the appalling way he was treated'. Queen Elizabeth II granted him a posthumous pardon in 2013.
GCHQ previously operated at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire where gay Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing worked to beat the German Enigma code.
Until the early 1990s, being gay was a bar to working at GCHQ.
What's at the end of a rainbow? A spy base: GCHQ to be lit up in multi-colour to show support for people of different sexualities
Display marks International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
Spy agency GCHQ, formed in 1919 as GC&CS, previously operated at Bletchley Park during WW2
Gay codebreaker Alan Turing worked at Bletchley to beat German Enigma
By Mail on Sunday Reporter
17 May 2015
Daily Mail
Spy agency GCHQ will be lit up with a rainbow today to highlight its stance against prejudice towards people of different sexualities.
The display marks International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.
GCHQ previously operated at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire where gay Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing worked to beat the German Enigma code.
Until the early 1990s, being gay was a bar to working at GCHQ in Cheltenham.
Spy agency GCHQ lit up in rainbow lights to highlight its stance against prejudice towards people of different sexuality. Gay codebreaker Alan Turing worked for the agency when it was based at Bletchley Park during the Second World War
Mr Turing’s nephew Sir John Dermot Turing said he was ‘delighted’ by GCHQ’s gesture, adding: ‘My uncle made a crucial contribution to the safety of the nation but due to society’s attitude at that time he was forced to hide his sexuality.
‘It is important that his successors at GCHQ today are free to be themselves, and therefore bring their talents to such vital work.’
Alan Turing was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 and killed himself in 1954.
He was granted a posthumous pardon by the Queen in 2013.
GCHQ director Robert Hannigan said: ‘I’m proud of our diverse and creative workforce.’
Aerial view of the GCHQ spy agency, which was decorated with multi-coloured lights in support of the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
THE CODEBREAKER ALAN TURING
Computer scientist and mathematician Alan Turing, who worked at Bletchley Park during the Second World War, was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts but received a posthumous pardon in 2013
Alan Turing (born June 1912) was a British computer scientist, mathematician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and marathon runner.
During the Second World War, he worked at Britain's codebreaking centre Bletchley Park for GC&CS, which changed its name to GCHQ in 1946.
He devised a number of techniques for breaking German ciphers, and his pivotal role in cracking intercepted coded messages enabled the Allies to defeat the Nazis in many crucial engagements, including the Battle of the Atlantic.
It has been estimated that the work at Bletchley Park shortened the war in Europe by as many as two to four years.
Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts, when such behaviour was still criminalised in the UK.
He accepted treatment with oestrogen injections (chemical castration) as an alternative to prison, but died in 1954 from cyanide poisoning.
In 2009, following an Internet campaign, Prime Minister Gordon Brown made an official public apology on behalf of the British government for 'the appalling way he was treated'. Queen Elizabeth II granted him a posthumous pardon in 2013.
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