Bolton

Bolton Town Hall

Bolton is a town and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, formerly in Lancashire.

LGBT history

In 1963 there was something of a local witchhunt of gay men.

"On June 26th the Bolton Evening News was agog with the story of a 'homosexual vice ring'. Ten men, five of whom worked at Bolton General Hospital, appeared at the County Magistrates Court in committal proceedings to the Crown Court in Manchester. They were aged between 19 and 57. Prominent among them were John R., 24, an orderly, accused of 14 offences with 9 others, and Vince L., 19 years old and a soldier, up on 7 charges with two others. The paper printed the names and addresses of all ten men."

The Bolton CHE Group was founded in 1971.

In 1998, seven local men, known as the Bolton Seven, were convicted for consensual sex.

Ray Gosling has identified a number of other cases where the Bolton police have prosecuted gay men for apparently trivial offences.

The Bolton LGBT Partnership is a network of local key stakeholders.

The Bolton Rainbow Community works on various projects for the local LGBT+ community.