Hi. Can you confirm if Turing was out as gay or not? If so, why was he only arrested after the robbery?
Yes, he was “out”, but I think the best characterization of that is that it was an “open secret”. Like today in most places in the US, it’s okay if you smoke pot regularly, and all your friends know you do it, and you essentially don’t hide it– but if you tell the police that you think your drug dealer broke into your house, you might have a problem on your hands. The academic world Turing belonged to was particularly liberal and accepting of that kind of thing, so it was okay if his acquaintances there were vaguely aware he was gay, but it still wasn’t something he could put under the light of the law (which I guess he was a bit naiive about..). My understanding also is that British society became more aware of and averse to homosexuality after the war, so around the time Turing was arrested, you were more likely in general to get in trouble for being gay than before.
Unfortunately I don’t have my biography with me or I’d quote it for you.. you might be interested in this lecture about Turing’s sexuality, though: http://mathtube.org/lecture/video/alan-turing-politics-sexual-science-and-making-gay-icon










