This special panel discussion brings together authorities on The Alan Turing Law, from leading academics, to legal experts and individuals who have unsuccessfully petitioned to have their offences disregarded.

The Alan Turing Law is the colloquial name for a 2017 amnesty law which posthumously pardoned over 50,000 gay men – including Oscar Wilde – who were cautioned or convicted under historical legislation that outlawed homosexual acts. The panel will discuss the positive consequences of the law as well as its more pernicious effects.

Contributors include: Katy Watts, a solicitor with the Public Law Project; Chris Waters, professor of Modern European History at Williams College, Massachusetts and leading Alan Turing historian; and John Nicolson, journalist, broadcaster and SNP politician, whose Private Member's Bill for an Alan Turing Law failed after being filibustered in 2016.

This event forms part of The Oscar Wilde Temple Events Programme.

The Oscar Wilde Temple by McDermott & McGough, at Studio Voltaire in Clapham – is a wholly immersive work of art and secular space honouring one of the earliest forebears of gay liberation whilst commemorating contemporary LGBTQ+ martyrs and those lost to the AIDS crisis.

The Oscar Wilde Temple is a space of sanctuary and celebration. A central concern of the artists, was that the space be used by LGBTQ+ communities for ceremonies, reading groups, community meetings and other special events.

In response to the artists’ intention, Studio Voltaire issued a simple invitation to London–wide LGBTQ+ organisations, charities and individuals – to come and activate the temple. Thus far, we have collaborated with 20 organisations, charities and individuals to host over 30 events: from ceremonies, to coffee mornings and tours.

The breadth of events has included: The Day of the Dead drumming circle with the Radical Faeries of Albion; a “Queer New Year” letter writing workshop with Kingston LGBT Forum; a youth social with 16-25 year old LGBTQ+ people who are currently homeless or living in a hostile environment; a faith gathering for the LGBTQ+ POC community with the House of Rainbow; and a eulogy ceremony with artist Salote Tawale. The Oscar Wilde Temple has been particularly celebrated and utilised by the over 50+ LGBTQ+ local communities of Clapham, Wandsworth and Brixton.

A wide– reaching engagement programme in partnership with national LGBT youth homelessness charity The Albert Kennedy Trust, runs alongside this programme, as well as regular hosted visits, reading groups and tours with local schools and education partners.

Read more about The Oscar Wilde Temple here: https://www.studiovoltaire.org/exhibitions/

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