UK Police Wrongly Took DNA From Gay Man

Stephen Close, a 50-year-old gay man who was jailed for gross indecency in 1983 for having sex with a fellow soldier in the British army, was shocked when police landed on his doorstep in Salford, England recently, demanding a DNA sample. Close told Raphael Satter of the Associated Press, "I was horrified that after all these years they suddenly decided to bring this up again. I've moved on from my life. I'm a businessman now. I've been a relationship for more than 10 years now. It's like someone's put a bomb under me."

"In the case of Mr. Close, our request was made without proper consideration of all the facts and once again for that I apologize," Manchester Deputy Chief Constable Ian Hopkins told the AP on Wednesday.

According to a press statement from Britain's Home Office, the head of the country's police forces, also agreed that the laws should be revised, saying that, "It is unacceptable that homosexual men have been living for decades with criminal records for consensual sex."