Prince William and Kate Middleton pato comment on call to pardon gay men convicted 

Prince William and Kate Middleton duck comment on call to pardon gay men convicted under outdated law

Celebrities including Benedict Cumberbatch and Stephen Fry signed an open letter calling for the \'young leaders\' to support the Pardon49k petition, but the couple\'s spokesman said it was a government matter

'Government matter': Kate and William's spokesman said the royal couple could not comment publicly

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been unable to back a plea to pardon 49,000 men convicted under old laws that made gay sex illegal.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Stephen Fry signed an open letter calling on the two "young leaders" to support Pardon49k.

But a spokesman for the royal couple said yesterday the issue is a matter for government so they could not comment in public.

Cumberbatch played gay genius Alan Turing in The Imitation Game.

Churchill hailed Turing\'s codebreaking as "the single biggest contribution" to war victory but he was still convicted of gross indecency in 1952 and committed suicide in 1954.

Celebrity backing: Benedict Cumberbatch is among those who signed the letter to the government

He was pardoned in 2013 but Pardon49k says this should be extended to all convicted before 1967. Many took their own lives.

In a letter to the Government, campaigners are calling for the royal family to act and convince the Government to pardon all those convicted under the outdated law.

It states: "The UK\'s homophobic laws made the lives of generations of gay and bisexual men intolerable.

"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.

"We call upon Her Majesty\'s Government to begin a discussion about the possibility of a pardoning all the men, alive or deceased, who like Alan Turing, were convicted."

\'Unequivocal apology\': Codebreaker Alan Turing was granted a posthumous pardon in 2013

The letter is also signed by Morten Tyldum, director of The Imitation Game, and Rachel Barnes who is Alan Turing\'s niece.

In 2009, an "unequivocal apology" for Turing\'s appalling treatment was issued by then prime minister Gordon Brown.

The Queen granted the scientist a posthumous pardon under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy in 2013, but the campaigners say this should be extended to all men who fell foul of the law.

It states: "The apology and pardon of Alan Turing are to be welcomed but ignores over 49,000 men who were convicted under the same law, many of whom took their own lives.

"An estimated 15,000 men are believed to still be alive."

An online petition backing the call has so far been signed by more than 69,000 people.

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