Castration & the Alan Turing case

Chemical castration is castration via anaphrodisiac drugs, which reduces libido and sexual activity. Unlike surgical castration, chemical castration does not remove organs or a form of sterilization. Moreover it is generally considered reversible when treatment is discontinued. When chemical castration is performed on men, these drugs can reduce sex drive, compulsive sexual fantasies, and capacity for sexual arousal. Life-threatening side effects are rare, but some users show increases in body fat and reduced bone density, which increase long-term risk of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. Castration is ultimately the process where an individual male loses the use of their testicles. Surgical castration is the excision of both testes and chemical castration uses pharmaceutical drugs to deactivate the testes. Castration causes sterilization (preventing them from reproducing); it also greatly reduces the production of certain hormones, such as testosterone. Castrations after the onset of puberty will typically reduce the sex drive considerably or eliminate it altogether. Castrated people are automatically sterile, because the testes (for males) and ovaries (for females) produce sex cells needed for sexual reproduction. Once removed, the individual is infertile. Some castrated people report mood changes, such as depression or a more serene outlook on life, although this might not be due to chemical changes but instead emotional changes due to the implications of the procedure. Body strength and muscle mass can decrease somewhat. Body hair may sometimes decrease.

In January 1952, Alan Turing, then 39, started a relationship with Arnold Murray, a 19-year-old unemployed man. Turing had met Murray just before Christmas outside the Regal Cinema when walking down Manchester's Oxford Road and invited him to lunch. On 23 January Turing's house was burgled. Murray told Turing that the burglar was an acquaintance of his, and Turing reported the crime to the police. During the investigation he acknowledged a sexual relationship with Murray. Homosexual acts were criminal offences in the United Kingdom at that time, and both men were charged with gross indecency under Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885. Initial committal proceedings for the trial were held on 27 February during which Turing's solicitor "reserved his defence" (did not argue or provide evidence against the allegations). He was denied entry into the United States after his conviction in 1952. Turing was convicted and given a choice between imprisonment and probation, which would be conditional on his agreement to undergo hormonal treatment designed to reduce libido. On 8 June 1954, Turing's housekeeper found him dead. He had died the previous day. A post-mortem examination established that the cause of death was cyanide poisoning.