--- description: Alan Turing, whom the actor played in The Imitation Game, was among those convicted title: Benedict Cumberbatch Backs Call to Pardon Gay Men Convicted in U.K. image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef78a18a40ea57a4/69877c0f428a9e73eecc6ccd/benedict-cumberbatch.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Benedict Cumberbatch Backs Call to Pardon Gay Men Convicted in U.K.  by [Mandy Oaklander](/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Jan 31, 2015 3:19 PM CUT  Actor Benedict Cumberbatch attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif.George Pimentel—WireImage/Getty Images  by [Mandy Oaklander](/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Jan 31, 2015 3:19 PM CUT Benedict Cumberbatch has joined 40,000 others in signing an [open letter](http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/30/benedict-cumberbatch-pardon-gay-men-alan-turing "undefined") to the British government demanding the pardons of thousands of gay men convicted under historic indecency laws in the U.K. “The U.K.’s homophobic laws made the lives of generations of gay and bisexual men intolerable,” reads the letter published in the _Guardian_. “It is up to young leaders of today, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, to acknowledge this mark on our history and not allow it to stand.” Cumberbatch played Alan Turing in the Oscar-nominated movie _The Imitation Game_, which documents the code breaker’s struggles under the U.K.’s early 20th century anti-gay laws. In 1952, Turing was convicted of gross indecency — one of 49,000 men found guilty under the laws. He was chemically castrated and died by suicide two years later. Homosexual sex was outlawed in England and Wales until 1967. **MORE**: [The History Behind Benedict Cumberbatch’s _The Imitation Game_](http://time.com/3599607/imitation-game-accuracy-benedict-cumberbatch-alan-turing/ "undefined") In 2013, Turing was pardoned by the Queen, but 15,000 of the men convicted are believed to still be alive. Cumberbatch — along with many others, some of whom were involved with the film — are demanding for their records to be wiped clean. “We call upon Her Majesty’s government to begin a discussion about the possibility of pardoning all the men, alive or deceased, who like Alan Turing were convicted,” the letter reads. \[[_The Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/30/benedict-cumberbatch-pardon-gay-men-alan-turing "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3691013/benedict-cumberbatch-gay-pardon/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3691013/benedict-cumberbatch-gay-pardon/"},"headline":"Benedict Cumberbatch Backs Call to Pardon Gay Men Convicted in U.K.","datePublished":"2015-01-31T15:19:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:02:35.300Z","description":"Alan Turing, whom the actor played in The Imitation Game, was among those convicted","url":"https://time.com/3691013/benedict-cumberbatch-gay-pardon/","keywords":["Benedict Cumberbatch","United Kingdom"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef78a18a40ea57a4/69877c0f428a9e73eecc6ccd/benedict-cumberbatch.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mandy Oaklander","jobTitle":"Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef78a18a40ea57a4/69877c0f428a9e73eecc6ccd/benedict-cumberbatch.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Actor Benedict Cumberbatch attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif.","caption":"Actor Benedict Cumberbatch attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif.","creditText":"George Pimentel—WireImage/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3691013/benedict-cumberbatch-gay-pardon/","name":"Benedict Cumberbatch Backs Call to Pardon Gay Men Convicted in U.K."}}]}] ```