As we mark LGBT History Month, it is vital to remember not only the progress that has been made, but the profound injustices inflicted on LGBT people throughout time.

Few stories capture this more starkly than that of Alan Turing.

During the Second World War, Turing played a central role in the Allied victory. A leading figure at Bletchley Park, his work on breaking the German Enigma code is estimated to have shortened the war by years and saved millions of lives. His research is also said to have laid the foundations of modern computing, artificial intelligence and cryptography, things that are essential for everyday life now.

Yet despite this incredible sacrifice and service, Turing's heroism went unrecognised in his lifetime. Instead of the gratitude he deserved, he was met with persecution.

In 1952, Turing was prosecuted by the British state for 'gross indecency', not for any act of harm, but simply for being a gay man. At a time when homosexuality was criminalised, he was forced to choose between imprisonment or chemical castration. He chose the latter, undergoing hormone treatment that had devastating physical and psychological effects, including depression, physical changes and social isolation. He was also subjected to his security clearance being revoked.

This punishment was inflicted by the very country he had helped to save.

Two years later, in 1954, Alan Turing died aged just 41. His death remains a symbol of how prejudice can destroy lives. For decades, his achievements were never fully honoured, while the gross injustice done to him went unacknowledged.

It wasn’t until 2009 that the British government formally apologised for Turing’s treatment, with the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, describing it as 'utterly unfair'. In 2013, he was granted a posthumous royal pardon.

Thankfully, the correction of injustice did not end with him.

In 2017, the UK passed what became known as Turing's Law, extending posthumous pardons to tens of thousands of gay and bisexual men who had been convicted under historical laws criminalising same-sex relationships. While no apology or pardon can undo the harm caused, the law represented an explicit acknowledgement that the British Government had systematically wronged LGBT people for generations.

Alan Turing's life shows us the substantial contribution that LGBT people can make to society, and the immense damage caused when those same societies allow prejudice against them to shape law and policy. His story is not just about the past, it is a reminder that progress is neither inevitable nor guaranteed, and that hard won rights can be eroded if they are not properly defended.