Forgetting the Many: The Royal Pardon of Alan Turing
United Kngdom - The I AM Film Festival - 2024 Winner Honorable Mention Best Documentary Rosemarie Reed
International Independent Film Award - 2024
USA - Chelsea Film Festival - 2024
United Kngdom - MiraBan UK Film Awards - 2024
Czech Republic - Prague Actors And Filmmakers Film Festival - 2024
Netherlands - New Renaissance Film Festival - 2024
United Kngdom - Maverick Movie Awards - 2024
USA - Chameleon Film Festival - Contemporary Visions - 2024
Italy - Madonie Film Festival, Region of Sicily - 2024
USA - Little Venice Film Festival - 2024 LGBTQ+ Experience Award Winner
USA - Los Angeles Indie Film Festival - 2024
USA - New York International Women Festival - 2024
Italy - Palermo International Film Festival - 2024
Turkey - Halic Goldenhorn Film Festival & Market - 2024
USA - Silicon Beach Film Festival - 2024
After a decade of attempts to reform British law, a new bill in Parliament to expunge the records of many men convicted under the 1885 law that criminalized male homosexual acts as “gross indecency,” was passed.
Forgetting the Many: The Royal Pardon of Alan Turing, is the story of that long struggle. A wave of post-WWII prosecutions caught thousands, including the brilliant World War II computer pioneer and code-breaker Alan Turing. In 1967, a new Sexual Offenses Act partly decriminalized homosexual acts between consenting adults in England and Wales.
Full decriminalization was not enacted until 2003, when the 1885 law was finally repealed. But neither of these reforms expunged the criminal records of those convicted under the old law. In 2009, however, then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued a posthumous apology to Turing, and in 2013 the Queen pardoned him, posthumously expunging his conviction.
In 2017, a new Policing and Crime Act-with an amendment popularly known as Turing’s Law-automatically pardoned all those convicted under the gross indecency legislation who had already died, but left the surviving victims in a legal limbo, with their convictions still standing. But an amendment to the 2022 Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, now law, will widen the range of homosexual offenses eligible for a disregard and pardon and at last allow all men convicted of consenting same-sex behavior with a person aged 16 or over, where the acts are no longer an offense, to apply to have their convictions disregarded and removed from the records. However, some men remain ineligible because their offenses are still crimes.
Story of the anti-gay laws in Great Britain and how they affected the gay community including the life of Alan Turing.
Forgetting The Many follows the life of Alan Turing and roughly 49,000 other men who were convicted and imprisoned for the "crime" of gross indecency.
Alan Turing law FB page of film
Robert Bannon The Roundtable Talk- Artists Share Their Heart & Their Art!
Director Rosemarie Reeds Talks "Forgetting The Many: The Royal Pardon of Alan Turning" - November 4, 2024 (video)
The critically acclaimed documentary Forgetting the Many: The Royal Pardon of Alan Turing will have a one-week run at Cinema Village in NYC beginning December 6th. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Rosemarie Reed and narrated by acclaimed actor Ben Whishaw, this powerful film examines the posthumous pardon of World War II hero and codebreaker, Alan Turing, and delves into the stories of other men like Turing, who were convicted under the 1885 British law that criminalized male homosexual acts as “gross indecency,” as well as other offences. Through in-depth interviews, archival footage, and personal stories, Forgetting the Many highlights their struggle for justice, showing how these men lost their jobs, their families, and their dignity—all because of a law that criminalized love.
We are joined by Director Rosemarie Reed! She is passionate, knowledgable, & we were excited to chat with her!
In 2009, the then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued a formal apology for Alan Turing’s 1952 conviction for same-sex acts. Then, in 2013, Queen Elizabeth II posthumously pardoned him. This royal pardon extended only to Turing. It left thousands of other men convicted under the same and similar laws without a pardon.
In 2017, the Policing and Crime Act, amended by what became known as “Turing’s Law,” provided automatic posthumous pardons for deceased men who had been convicted of homosexual behaviour that was no longer a crime.
Forgetting the Many: The Royal Pardon of Alan Turing is a timely reminder of the struggles that LGBTQ+ individuals have faced in the fight for equality. Reed’s film shines a spotlight on the continuing fight for justice, both in the UK and around the world, where similar laws and their legacies still impact lives today. While the legal battle for pardons continues, the film calls attention to the need for societal change and greater recognition of the harms done to these men.
