Did Winston Churchill ever comment on or take action on Alan Turing's persecution for homosexuality, either publicly or privately?

by AreYouNotShpongled

Winston Churchill was Prime Minister during WWII and was of course well aware of the work being done at Bletchley Park. I assume that he was aware of Alan Turing (by name) and his major contributions to cracking the German encryption machines.

He was Prime Minister again during Alan Turing's trial for homosexuality and his eventual death. Did Churchill ever make any comment, either publicly or privately, about Turing and his persecution, and did he ever take any steps on Turin's behalf?

BrehonDubh

There were rumours that suggested that Churchill himself may have had homosexual relations. When he was a young cavalry officer Churchill was accused of having “participated in acts of gross immorality of the Oscar Wilde type” with fellow cadets at Sandhurst. But he successfully sued his accuser for libel.

But whatever the truth of this he was very reluctant to change the British law dating to 1885 that criminalized homosexual acts, even in private. This was the law that sent Oscar Wilde to prison for two years and the one that got Turing in trouble. In cabinet papers from the 1950s released some time ago Churchill makes statements that he didn't want the Tory party "being responsible" for making the law more lenient for homosexual men.

For further reading on this you might consult Closet Queens by Michael Bloch.