{"id":141501,"date":"2025-05-29T13:30:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T13:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/141501\/"},"modified":"2025-05-29T13:30:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T13:30:13","slug":"peter-tatchell-laughed-at-by-police-before-being-removed-from-birmingham-pride-news-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/141501\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Tatchell ‘laughed at by police before being removed’ from Birmingham Pride | News UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbrowser that
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsupports HTML5
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t<\/video><\/p>\n

A veteran LGBTQ+ rights campaigner<\/a> has claimed he was \u2018forcibly removed\u2019 from Birmingham<\/a> Pride after police \u2018laughed\u2019 at him.<\/p>\n

Peter Tatchell<\/a>, 73, said an officer ordered him to leave the Pride parade, claiming event organisers had requested his removal.<\/p>\n

Pride<\/a> organisers have denied this, stressing to Metro <\/strong>that they permitted Tatchell to march.<\/p>\n

Tatchell gave a speech at the start of the parade in the West Midlands city on Saturday morning where he spoke about the arrests of gay and bisexual men before homosexuality was decriminalised in 2004<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He was using a loudhailer and holding a sign reading: \u2018West Midlands<\/a> police refuse to apologise for anti-LGBT+ witch-hunts. SHAME! #ApologiseNow\u2019 during the march.<\/p>\n

About an hour later, he set off on the march. The campaigner said he and five others from the Peter Tatchell Foundation<\/a> were walking down New Street when they saw several police officers approach them.<\/p>\n

The activist said a senior officer told him to leave, saying he did not have a permit.<\/p>\n

He added he was then \u2018frog marched\u2019 out of the parade.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Peter
\n\t\tPeter Tatchell spoke out against West Midlands Police\u2019s historic arrests of queer men (Picture: Peter Tatchell)<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tJoin Metro’s LGBTQ+ community on WhatsApp\t\t\t<\/p>\n

With thousands of members from all over the world, our vibrant LGBTQ+ WhatsApp channel<\/a> is a hub for all the latest news and important issues that face the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n

Simply\u00a0click on this link<\/a><\/strong>, select \u2018Join Chat\u2019 and you\u2019re in! Don’t forget to turn on notifications!<\/p>\n

Speaking to Metro<\/strong>, Tatchell said: \u2018The police response was to crowd around me, blowing whistles, so my message could not be heard.<\/p>\n

\u2018What was particularly upsetting was when I told the story of how two men attempted suicide because of police prosecution. The officers laughed in my face.\u2019<\/p>\n

Tatchell said: \u2018I showed him my wristband and said, \u201cHere\u2019s proof I have permission, plus, I am a guest, so they would never instruct me to leave\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018I asked the officer what the name of the Pride organiser who instructed you to remove me was. No answer.\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Peter
\n\t\tThe campaigner says he was \u2018frog marched\u2019 out of the parade (Picture: Peter Tatchell)<\/p>\n

Photographs and video taken at the parade show officers leading Tatchell out of the parade, holding him by the arms and forcing him forward.<\/p>\n

He was not arrested. <\/p>\n

Tatchell said: \u2018The officers dumped me on the pavement. I got the very strong impression that, if I had further resisted, I would have been arrested.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s sadly typical of the way in which the police across Britain are increasingly clamping down on freedom of expression and the right to protest.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m just astonished that the police would dare abuse their power to fabricate allegations and to stop me making a lawful criticism.\u2019<\/p>\n

Birmingham<\/a> Pride CEO Lawrence Barton said \u2018categorically\u2019 that organisers allowed Tatchell to march.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Peter
\n\t\tSeven police officers surrounded Tatchell, he claimed (Picture: Peter Tatchell)<\/p>\n

Barton told Metro<\/strong>: \u2018Peter was an invited guest speaker to Pride, he was asked by me to speak at the Big Free Community event and at Centenary Square to officially launch Pride.<\/p>\n

\u2018His foundation was officially booked through our official process. Peter\u2019s call for an apology from [West Midlands Police] is a position I support.\u2019<\/p>\n

Before being gay was fully decriminalised, UK police forces routinely raided nightclubs, bars and saunas<\/a>, particularly in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. <\/p>\n

Officers held stakeouts in parks and public toilets to arrest queer people for \u2018gross indecency\u2019, while some were convicted for public displays of affection under public order and breach of the peace laws. <\/p>\n

West Midlands Police has not formally apologised for the decades-old arrests, unlike other forces such as the Met Police<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Chief Constable\u00a0Craig Guildford declined to do so in 2023 when asked by Tatchell, saying the police were responsible for enforcing laws which would be viewed \u2018very differently today\u2019.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Peter
\n\t\tTatchell said he was \u2018astonished\u2019 by the incident (Picture: Peter Tatchell)<\/p>\n

Tatchell said: \u2018There were probably 50 officers marching in the parade. Not a single one at any point expressed sorrow or regret about the way in which the LGBTQ+ community had been ill-treated in the past.\u2019<\/p>\n

Marching alongside Tatchell was Matthew Lloyd, a member of the inclusive faith group Queer Church Birmingham.<\/p>\n

The former national co-chair of LGBT+ Labour told Metro <\/strong>that calling on the West Midlands Police to apologise is a \u2018long-standing demand in our community\u2019.<\/p>\n

He said: \u2018It\u2019s disgraceful that officers forcibly removed Peter from the parade \u2013 especially under the false claim that Pride organisers had asked for it.<\/p>\n

\u2018This heavy-handed policing reflects a deeper problem: a lack of understanding of Pride as a protest and a deafness to the police\u2019s own history when dealing with the queer community, our venues and our safe spaces.\u2019<\/p>\n

The force told Metro<\/strong>: \u2018We assisted security staff at the event with the removal of a man who made his way amongst people who were taking part in the parade. He was not arrested.\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\"EMBARGOED
\n\t\tTatchell has been campaigning for LGBTQ+ rights for decades (Picture: PA)<\/p>\n

Asked about allegations that officers \u2018laughed\u2019 at Tatchell, the police said: \u2018West Midlands Police have not received a complaint about this but we are open to listen to any which are formally made to us.\u2019<\/p>\n

Ahead of the parade, the police said that officers will be \u2018out and about keeping you safe at Birmingham Pride\u2019.<\/p>\n

Chief Superintendent Phil Dolby said: \u2018Our officers are there to support you, so please do speak to them if you have any concerns about safety \u2013 or feel free to just say hello.\u2019<\/p>\n

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: I experienced one of the filthiest films I\u2019ve ever seen at Cannes<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: Plans to ban Pride events in Hungary criticised by 17 other countries<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: \u2018Humanising trans people is so important right now \u2013 our BBC series does that\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tNews Updates<\/p>\n

Stay on top of the headlines with daily email updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,393,4884,5763,12,61241,16,15,7830],"class_list":{"0":"post-141501","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-lgbtq","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-peter-tatchell","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-west-midlands-police"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114591368859505135","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}