Manchester Police refuses to apologise for past homophobia
Activist Peter Tatchell says the Manchester Police has "a particularly troubling homophobic history that deserves specific acknowledgement"
By Gary Grimes
The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police (GMP), Stephen Watson, has refused to issue a formal apology for his force’s past homophobic malpractices.
In a letter to human rights activist Peter Tatchell, provided to Attitude, who has been campaigning for formal apologies from police forces across the UK for their past homophobia since 2023, Watson said that such an apology could be seen “as both superficial and merely performative.”
Watson went on to say that he would not apologise for GMP’s past homophobia because to do would “would unfairly impugn the faithful and valued services of past officers” and noted that “any such apology would likely make little or no difference to developing contemporary practice.”
The letter was issued to Tatchell directly after the campaigner appeared on ITV Granada in April of this year to raise awareness of the “abusive” methods GMP employed against LGBTQ+ people in the past.
Tatchell issued a letter to all police forces in the UK seeking apologies for their past homophobia in 2023. Since then, 21 police forces have issued apologies, including the Metropolitan, City of London, Sussex, Northumberland, Devon and Cornwall, West Mercia, Cambridgeshire and Durham.
Watson states in his letter to Tatchell that should he “be able to adduce evidence in respect of any individual who experienced the sort of wrongdoing you describe, I would be more than willing to apologise to them directly.”
West Midlands Police urged to apologise for past homophobic witch-hunts The @petertatchellfdn.bsky.social is asking the Police & Crime Commissioner to apologise after the Chief Constable refused to engage #WestMidlands #UK #ApologiseNow www.petertatchellfoundation.org/west-midland…
— Pliny Soocoormanee. 🏳️🌈 🇬🇧 🇲🇺 🇫🇷 🇮🇳 (@plinys23.bsky.social) March 18, 2025 at 10:45 AM
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In a response to GMP issued publicly today, Tatchell rejects this approach from the police force. “You seem to expect the victims of police abuses to do all the work for you. This is not acceptable,” the activist wrote.
“Other police forces have responded to my letter by liaising with local LGBT+ community organisations, LGBT+ history projects and consulting local media archives. They have found plentiful examples of homophobic police malpractice to justify an apology,” he continued, before asking: “Why can’t you do the same?”
In particular, Tatchell notes the actions of Chief Constable James Anderton in the 1980s. “At the height of the AIDS crisis, when hundreds of gay men were suffering slow, agonising deaths, Mr Anderton described gay people as ‘swirling in a human cesspit of their own making.’
“This was a clear admission of a witch-hunt and homophobic vendetta” – Peter Tatchell on Manchester Police
“He abused his position as Chief Constable to promote religiously-motivated intolerance towards LGBTs, including publicly supporting the recriminalisation of same-sex relationships.”
He also refers to regular police raids of gay venues including Napoleon’s bar, the New Union, Rembrandt Hotel and the Clone Zone shop. “The police openly boasted: ‘We’ve been trying to close these queer places for years.’ This was a clear admission of a witch-hunt and homophobic vendetta.”
Tatchell also criticised Watson for ignoring three letters sent directly to him since 2023, noting that the Chief Constable only responded after Tatchell contacted the Mayor of Greater Manchester and local media.
He also notes that the National Police Chief’s Council lead on LGBT+ issues, the Chief Constable of Northumbria, Vanessa Jardine, wrote to Watson and all other Chief Constables over a year ago urging them to review the request for an apology for historic anti-LGBT+ witchhunts