Showing posts with label gay military. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gay military. Show all posts

Monday, May 25, 2009

British Naval Codebreaker Castrated By Government For Being Gay


Alan Turing was the inspirational mathematician at the heart of Bletchley Park's codebreaking successes during World War II. Historians agree that the work of the codebreakers at Bletchley Park effectively helped to shorten the war by two years and saved tens of thousands of lives.
Alan Turing arrived at Bletchley Park, the site of secret British codebreaking activities during WWII and birthplace of the modern computer, in September 1939 and was soon pursuing his idea of building a machine that would break the Enigma key. He became head of the small Naval Enigma team in Hut 8 and contributed greatly to the breaking of the German Naval Enigma. By August 1940, Turing, together with his friend and colleague, Gordon Welchman, had brought the idea of an Enigma codebreaking machine to fruition with the construction of the Turing-Welchman Bombe, which speeded up the process of breaking into the daily Enigma keys.
In 1952, Turing was convicted of having a sexual relationship with another man, to which he made no defence other than to say he saw nothing wrong in his actions. Turing was sentenced to chemical castration. The conviction robbed him of his security clearance for GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters, a British intelligence agency
(wik)

Mini Documentary on DATA


This documentary was an entry in National History Day 2008 by Tucker Jepson. The topic was Conflict and Compromise in History.
"I was lucky to meet and interview so many great sources who were generous with their time. I made it to States, but did not get picked to go to the Nationals. My teacher says I was "robbed"! I think the judges may have been biased about my subject matter. What do you think? All comments welcome."

PBS To Air ASK NOT


Johnny Symons' ASK NOT, a documentary that explores the effects of the United States military's "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy on gay and lesbian soldiers and service members as well as its effects on the military and national security, will air nationally on the PBS series INDEPENDENT LENS on: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 10PM
(check local listings)

(MT)

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Obama Tells Gays He Won't Help


The White House says it won't stop gays and lesbians from being dismissed from the military while the Obama administration works to repeal a decade-old policy banning openly gay people from serving in uniform.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in his daily press conference that President Barack Obama does not plan to intervene in current cases against men and women who announce their homosexuality. (Yes we can??? Hey, Mr. President your promises are fading faster than my Obama bumper sticker. WTF?) C-Span live feed.