About this Event
A talk by Dani Dinger
The 2026 LGBTQ+ History Month theme is Science and Innovation, and few figures embody this better than Turing. His groundbreaking work helped shape the digital world we live in today—yet his life was also marked by profound injustice.
Join us for an engaging talk, organised by Forest Gate Pride, about Alan Turing, mathematician, wartime codebreaker, and one of the founding figures of modern computing and artificial intelligence. We will also consider the narrative of homophobic legislation in the UK and beyond, and how this shaped Turing’s experiences of catastrophic oppression, before reflecting on the situation for queers in the UK today.
About Alan Turing
Born in 1912, Turing was a British mathematician, logician, and wartime codebreaker. He formalised the concept of algorithms through the idea of the Turing machine and played a pivotal role in breaking the German Enigma codes at Bletchley Park during the Second World War—work that is credited with significantly shortening the war.
Despite his extraordinary contributions, Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for “gross indecency” for being gay. To avoid Pr*son, he accepted probation on the condition that he undergo chemical castration. He died on 7 June 1954 from cyanide poisoning, in a death ruled a suicide.
In 2009, then–Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued an official apology for the “appalling” treatment Turing received, and in 2013 Turing was granted a posthumous royal pardon.
About the Speaker
Dani has been thoroughly enjoying the queer/trans agenda for over ten years. This adventure has led them to work with many queer community groups and changemakers, including the Gay Liberation Front, ACT UP London, and The Love Tank, and they are a founding member of the Queer Tours of London collective. More recently, Dani has been working in nightlife in welfare support, trying to realize the capacity for night-time spaces to model new, abolitionist ways of being as the co-founder of Safe Only CIC. Dani also works in archiving from time to time, as a theatre maker, a drummer for a Morris side, and a bear.
www.danidinger.com
Location:
Turing Street, Stratford, E20
Meet at the Turning Street road sign opposite HMRC’s offices.
If it’s raining on the day, we’ll meet in the Royal Entomological Society Insect Garden, Endeavour Square, London E20 1JN.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Turing Street, Turing Street, London, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00
