A statue of Alan Turing, for whom the bill was named. Photo: Jon Callas. Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons Licensed.The failure of the Turing Bill is a stark reminder of the homophobia embedded in British society. A staunchly undemocratic filibuster, led by none other than justice minister Sam Gyimah, ensured that no vote could be taken on the Bill. The Turing Bill, named after WW2 code breaker Alan Turing, was intended to pardon the gay men prosecuted before homosexuality was decriminalised in 1967.
Although Gyimah was met with loud shouts of shame from other MPs, there is little doubt that the failure of the bill to pass will only further disenfranchise an already at-risk section of society. It is precisely this sort of behaviour which reinforces the alienation of homosexual men, leading to disproportionally high levels of mental illness, self-harm and suicides within the LGBT community.[1] societal pressures resulting in an internalised discomfort with oneself and constant fear of ridicule have created a crisis where a staggering 52% of LGBT youths have self-harmed and 44% have considered suicide.[2] That is simply unacceptable. The government, especially the justice minister, must lead the way in creating an environment where homosexuals are equals, and not a minority to be disregarded as soon as a politically point-scoring manifesto has fallen from the public eye.
We live in a society where homosexual characters on TV shows all fit one description. A society where to be gay and play sport means to be habitually treated with scorn and contempt. A society in which a quarter of LGB people hide their sexual orientation for fear of being the victim of a hate crime, and 38% of transpeople have experienced physical threats or intimidation. And now, a society where the justice minister refuses to pardon men of the defunct crime of being gay. To live in the United Kingdom as an LGBT person is to live with a relentless awareness that you may well be treated like a second-class citizen, to live paranoid that you may be subjected to verbal or physical abuse on any given day.
