The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has refused to apologise to the LGBT+ community for historic homophobia in the force.
Campaigners said it was an “insult” after 21 other forces have issued formal apologies over their past conduct, adding that GMP was “involved in some of the most extreme unlawful victimisation of LGBTs by any UK force”.
Human rights charity the Peter Tatchell Foundation first issued calls to all forces to say sorry for “decades-long victimisation” of the LGBT+ community in June 2023.
However, in a recent letter, seen by The Independent, its Chief Constable, Stephen Watson, declined to “accede to your request for a general apology”, adding it could be seen as “superficial and merely performative” and could “unfairly impugn” the service of past officers.
The director of the foundation, Peter Tatchell, who was this week named in The Independent’s Pride List 2025 for his gay rights activism, said: “This refusal to apologise is an insult to the LGBT+ community, who suffered so much at the hands of the Manchester police in decades past.”
Mr Tatchell has this week written to CC Watson, appealing once again for him to apologise – noting the troubling history of the force under the late Chief Constable Sir James Anderton in the 1980s.
At the height of the Aids crisis, Mr Anderton said gay men were “swirling about in a human cesspit of their own making”, resulting in calls for his resignation.
“Greater Manchester Police has a particularly troubling homophobic history that deserves specific acknowledgement and apology,” Mr Tatchell said.
“Under Chief Constable James Anderton in the 1980s, the force became synonymous with open hostility towards the LGBT+ community.”
He claimed Mr Anderton’s comments were not “isolated rhetoric” and the force targeted gay venues in raids in the 1980s, which in some cases led to gay and bisexual men being outed and subjected to homophobic insults, threats and violence.
Mr Tatchell added: “To now refuse to apologise adds insult to injury. Apologies are not symbolic—they are acts of justice and healing. They show leadership and humanity. They tell survivors of police witch-hunts: ‘We see you, we acknowledge the harm we caused, and we are sorry.’
“Twenty-one other forces have recognised that acknowledging past wrongs helps rebuild LGBT+ trust. It will encourage more LGBTs to report hate crime, sexual assaults and domestic violence, which is what we all want.
“Not saying sorry undermines LGBT+ confidence in the police and will damage the police’s reputation among LGBTs.
“We are not suggesting all past officers were bad or blaming today’s officers. An apology is about taking responsibility for homophobic police behaviour in previous decades and saying sorry.”
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley was the first to apologise in 2023, in a move which was welcomed by Mr Tatchell for drawing “a line under past Met persecution”.
A string of others subsequently followed suit, including Merseyside Police’s former Chief Constable Serena Kennedy, who issued their “sincere apology and deepest regret” for “historical prejudice”. Others include Dorset and North Yorkshire Police.
In his refusal letter, dated April 2025, CC Watson, who was appointed in 2021, said GMP is proud to serve its many diverse communities and strives to understand their past experiences with the force.
He said the force has made “considerable” progress over the past 40 years and takes a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination.
He wrote: “I am, of course, sorry that GMP, and those police bodies which preceded the presently formed GMP prior to 1974, didn’t always perform to the standards deserved by those whom we serve.
“It is also the case, however, that over these many decades, literally thousands of police officers have performed their duties with decency, professionalism and compassion.
“Whilst I acknowledge that you are not seeking an apology for officers having upheld the laws of the day, it would nevertheless be quite unjust for me as the current Chief Constable to cast some sort of sweeping assertion as to the general conduct of the force over a prolonged period of time, particularly when the period in question is now so dated that virtually no serving officer in the entire force can speak to the period with any personal knowledge.
“Such an apology could well be seen, even by the intended recipients, as both superficial and merely performative.
“It would unfairly impugn the faithful and valued services of past officers; and any such apology would likely make little or no difference to developing contemporary practice which is, as you acknowledge, currently very good and which carries the confidence both of our current LGBTQ+ community and our own staff association.
“With regret, therefore, I find that I cannot accede to your request for a general apology.”
