Gay castrated
Rugby ref Nigel Owens asked to be chemically castrated
Owens, 45, said he "would have done anything to be 'normal' in people's eyes".
The referee, who grew up in a village in Carmarthenshire, Wales, developed bulimia and later became hooked on steroids when he started going to the gym.
He described how he went to a doctor and said: "l perform not want to be gay. Can I get chemically castrated?"
Seek help on homophobic abuse, says ref
B'I could own well finished refereeing'
At the age of 34, Owens told his mother, Mair, he was gay.
He said his father, Geraint, found the revelation "difficult at first", but added: "My love for him and his love for me has not changed one bit."
Owen said he has received huge support from the Welsh Rugby Union and feels he has been given a "second chance".
He went on to say: "Unless you are glad with who you are, you cannot excel and be the best you can be at whatever you are doing. You cannot enjoy life if you are not happy within yourself."
Owen's full interview can be heard on Desert Island Discs at 11:15 GMT on Sunday.
Alan Turing, World War II code-breaker castrated for being queer , is the confront of Britain’s £50 note
Alan Turing, a crack code-breaker and visionary mathematician who was convicted under Victorian-era homophobic laws, will be the face of Britain’s new £50 note.
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney announced Monday that Turing, who killed himself in 1954 after he was subjected to chemical castration, will appear on the new polymer note by the end of 2021.
In a statement, Carney lauded the Englishman as an “outstanding mathematician” and “a giant on whose shoulders so many now stand.”
“As the father of laptop science and synthetic intelligence, as adv as war hero, Alan Turing’s contributions were far ranging and path breaking,” the central banker said.
Turing is optimal known for his work at Bletchley Park, where UK cryptologists sought to decipher messages sent by the Nazis. His efforts to crack Germany’s Enigma code remained a secret for decades but are now credited with saving thousands of lives and hastening the end of Nature War II. Turing was played by Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Imitation Game,” a 2014 motion picture on the subject.
The pioneering scientist also played a decisive
The hidden homophobic shame of the NHS
February is LGBT History Month in the UK:
The posthumous royal pardon granted to war-time code breaker and computer pioneer Alan Turing was a long overdue attempt to put right a morbid injustice. Turing had been convicted of homosexuality in 1952, under the equal nineteenth century ‘gross indecency’ law that sent Oscar Wilde to prison in 1895.
Given the option of jail or chemical castration, he chose the latter. The hormonal treatment – similar to the ‘cure’ devised by the Nazi doctor, SS Carl Vaernet – caused Turing horrendous physical and mental distress; including impotency, breast training and depression. He devoted suicide two years later, at the age of 41.
Turing was not alone. An estimated 50,000 men were convicted under the same law during the twentieth century, and a further 50,000 were convicted under other anti-gay laws – making a total of 100,000 convictions. Many were jailed.
Some were also subjected to chemical castration or to so-called ‘aversion therapy’ – the infliction of electric shocks or drug-induced nausea while they were shown naked male images.
Based on Pavlov’s experiments giving
Alan Turing, the mathematician famous for breaking Nazi Germany's secret codes during World War II, who was later chemically castrated for being gay, will now be featured on Britain's £50 observe. The Bank of England made the announcement Monday after considering many pivotal scientists to adorn the new bills.
The bank's governor, Mark Carney, said Turing's perform had an "enormous impact on how we live today."
"As the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, as well as a war hero, Alan Turing's contributions were far ranging and path breaking," Carney said. "Turing is a giant on whose shoulders so many now stand."
The note is expected to access circulation by the end of 2021. Among the features, the new notes include a 1951 photo of Turing, his birthdate listed in binary code, and technical drawings for the British Bombe -- one of the machines Turin helped invent to break the Nazis' Enigma-coded messages.
The bank received 227,299 nominations for 989 different scientists during a six-week nomination period. Among the other notable nominees was theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who died last year.
Turing, best known for dev