The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has apologised for past police failings towards LGBTQ+ people, acknowledging “unacceptable discrimination and the pain and suffering it caused”.
Campaigners say the apology is in contrast to the stance of the chief constable of Greater Manchester police (GMP), Stephen Watson, who earlier this year declined to apologise on behalf of his force, saying that do so could be seen as “superficial and merely performative”.
Burnham’s formal apology is made in a letter to the campaigner Peter Tatchell, who has been seeking apologies for “the past homophobic persecution” of LGBTQ+ people by UK police forces. More than 20 forces including the Met, Merseyside, Northumbria and Police Scotland have apologised.
Tatchell said it was particularly important in Greater Manchester because “historically, GMP was one of the most homophobic police forces in the UK”.
He said: “In the 1980s, the then chief constable, Sir James Anderton, infamously said that gay men dying of Aids were ‘swirling around in a human cesspit of their own making’. Motivated by homophobic religious beliefs, he ordered the police to ‘go after’ LGBTs.”
Tatchell said police officers were instructed to unlawfully harass gay venues, including a notorious incident in 1984 when 23 plainclothes officers raided Napoleon’s bar.
Police argued that the manager was permitting “licentious dancing” in contravention of a bylaw. Tatchell said names, addresses and photographs were taken and some patrons were publicly outed, leading to loss of jobs and being subjected to homophobic slurs and violence.
In his letter, Burnham says: “There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the LGBTQ+ community historically were treated shamefully by this country and clearly subject to discrimination in many ways.
“As mayor of Greater Manchester, I acknowledge the unacceptable discrimination and the pain and suffering it caused. I apologise to all LGBTQ+ people in Greater Manchester and across the UK for the past failing of GMP in this regard.”
Burnham said he had seen Watson’s response to Tatchell, which he called “considered and respectful”. He said mayors had no statutory powers to “instruct chief constables, as in law they are operationally independent”.
Tatchell said he was grateful for what he said was Burnham’s “clear and unequivocal apology” for past mistreatment. But he added: “It is deeply disappointing that the chief constable continues to refuse to say sorry. A mayoral apology, welcome though it is, cannot substitute for an apology from the police force that carried out these abuses.”
Watson wrote to Tatchell in April saying he was sorry that the force “didn’t always perform to the standards deserved by those whom we serve” but declining to apologise generally to the LGBTQ+ community, saying it would make “little or no difference”.
Tatchell said he would continue to campaign for a “full and formal apology” from GMP.
