Alan Turing, gay and father of computing, is the new face of 50 pound notes

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The Bank of England will honor the father of computing, Alan Turing, on the new £ 50 banknote, which will go into circulation on June 23, 2021. In the promotional art of the banknote, they also placed the rainbow flag, symbolizing the fact that he is LGBTQIA+.

In the note there is Alan Turing’s date of birth made in binary code, an image of him taken in 1951, and the phrase “This is just an anticipated taste of what is to come, just a shadow of what will be”, said by him to a newspaper in the post-war period. The symbol that identifies the veracity of the banknote has also been altered to resemble a computer chip.

The 50 pound banknote was the last one left to be replaced with a polymer model. Previously, banknotes were made of paper and could be forged more easily.

“It is not just a celebration of his scientific genius, which helped to shorten the war and influence the technology we use today. The note also confirms his status as one of the most iconic LGBTQ+ figures in the world. (…) His legacy is a reminder of the value of embracing all aspects of diversity, and also the work we still have to do to be truly inclusive “, says government communications director Jeremy Fleming.

Responsible for creating the Turing Machine, Alan was also involved in the construction of physical machines to break secret codes of German communications during World War II.

However, when his homosexuality was discovered in 1952, he suffered chemical castration after being convicted of “gross indecency” thanks to a relationship with Arnold Murray, in addition to having been removed from his security skills, preventing him from continuing to be a cryptography consultant for Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).

Turing was barred from entering the United States after his conviction. Two years later, he was found dead and the cause of death was established as potassium cyanide poisoning.

He officially received pardon from the British Crown in 2013, with a document signed by Queen Elizabeth II.

With information from TecMundo.

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