Turing's homosexuality resulted in a criminal prosecution in 1952, when homosexual acts were still illegal in the United Kingdom. He accepted treatment with female hormones (
chemical castration) as an alternative to prison. He died in 1954, just over two weeks before his 42nd birthday, from
cyanide poisoning. An inquest determined it was suicide; his mother and some others believed his death was accidental. On 10 September 2009, following an
Internet campaign, British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown made an
official public apology on behalf of the British government for the way in which Turing was treated after the war.
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