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The current government aren't personally responsible for what was done to him 70 years ago. The man was a hero, and the story of his life and treatment was impo
by simonh 6y ago
The current government aren't personally responsible for what was done to him 70 years ago. The man was a hero, and the story of his life and treatment was important in my life. If this raises awareness of his contribution and the appalling way he was abused, and broadcasts to the world that the establishment today is firmly committed that such things must not happen again, I think that's a good thing.
On the other hand, meanwhile children are being given hormone treatments with permanent consequences at the insistence of health professionals, only to regret it when it's too late. Maybe we've not learned as much as we thought. Still, whatever you think of that controversy, and there are definitely multiple sides to it, Turing is the perfect figure to act as a catalyst for public debate. We've still got a lot of these issues to work out.
- alias_neo 6y agoI agree, inviting debate is a good thing, I'm not convinced though that the lesson _has_ been learned, as you say, hormone treatments, but also and the way identity crises are being handled shows were not quite there yet. There's also the tangential issue that it's the £50. I haven't seen a £50 in about 20 years. It's hard to spark debate once the talk of the note being issued is over, when the overwhelming majority of the population will never see one. For the non-brits here; most everyday establishments won't accept £50 notes due to risk of forgery. The £20 is the largest day-to-day use note here, we don't have a £100 either, £50 is the largest.