Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Police apologise over gay files

Wednesday 01 February 1995 19:02 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A police computer system that allowed officers to record whether an arrested person was gay or lesbian has been scrapped more than two years after the force's chief constable denied that it existed. Manchester's Operational Information System, in which the personal details of suspects were recorded for police intelligence use, included a category for sexual orientation. Greater Manchester Police yesterday apologised for what was described as an error and insisted they had not been aware of the gay category, which was removed from the computer this week.

Meanwhile, the gay pressure group Outrage! has written to 20 MPs, including two Cabinet ministers, whom it believes are lesbian, gay or bisexual urging them to "come out".

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in