Pet Shop Boys: It’s disappointing Stonewall haven’t pushed for more after Turing pardon
The Pet Shop Boys have branded it “disappointing” that Stonewall hasn’t pushed for the pardoning of more people convicted of homosexuality.
Gay codebreaker and maths genius Alan Turing – often described as the grandfather of modern computing – was officially pardoned by the Queen last year for the conviction of ‘gross indecency’ which eventually led him to take his own life.
Speaking to the Sunday Times today on the sixtieth anniversary of Turing’s death, pop duo the Pet Shop Boys revealed that their upcoming tribute to Turing at the Proms next month will feature a song titled ‘The Pardon’.
Neil Tennant said: “So very many lives were ruined over such a long period.
“Frankly it rather disappoints me that Stonewall has not done more. So we’re making the statement ourselves.”
The Prom – a tribute to Turing entitled ‘A Man From The Future’ – will be held at the Royal Albert Hall on July 23.
Tennant said: “It’s a memorial to Turing, invoking the spirit of the man and his work.
“He was a man from the future in that his scientific achievements were in the vanguard and that, for us, his pioneering work on computers led to our electronic music.
“Then he was ahead of his time in being openly gay, though perhaps a bit too honest.”
In March, the Pet Shop Boys sampled a speech by drag queen Panti Bliss in their track ‘The Best Gay Possible’.
