Benedict Cumberbatch has added his name to an open letter asking the British government to pardon thousands of gay men who were convicted of gross indecency.
According to The Guardian, the letter signed by over 40,000 urges the royal family to support the campaign to pardon those charged for a crime for their sexuality under the United Kingdom's indecency laws.
“The UK’s homophobic laws made the lives of generations of gay and bisexual men intolerable," the letter reads. “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."
The Huffington Post reports that an estimated 15,000 living men could be pardoned if the decision is made.
For his Oscar-nominated performance in The Imitation Game Cumberbatch portrayed Alan Turing, a gay computer scientist who was convicted of indecency in 1952 and chemically castrated before committing suicide in 1954. Turing was pardoned by the Queen in 2013.
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