You might know a bit about Manchester’s LGBTQ+ historical figures already, you would have definitely heard about Alan Turing and Emmeline Pankhurst, but you might not know about Henry Stokes and Allan Horsfall. If you’d like to know more about where you can find out about Manchester’s rich history, here are five places you can get some more info.
Manchester Pride’s LGBTQ+ Trail
From Victorian drag balls to Canal Street, the Campaign for Homosexual Equality and the city’s famous Pride Parade, Manchester has always led the way with queer activism. Its people, its resilience, and its unapologetic queer energy have been present for hundreds of years.
For many, Pride is a time to celebrate and party. However, it is also a reminder of the past and the people who have led the way for the LGBTQ+ community today.
In 2003, a Heritage Trail was commissioned for EuroPride to provide a better understanding of the city’s gay rights movement. The trail featured street mosaics designed by artist Mark Kennedy, unlocking many examples of queer life to remember, reflect on and celebrate. Some of these tiles still exist across the city.
You can take this trail while listening to local Playwright and Tour Guide, Chris Hoyle, which features new stops and new stories that reveal more of the city’s fascinating queer life by scanning the QR code on the map.
It’s always been queer up North and Manchester has been at the very heart of LGBTQ+ culture for a long time.
Queering the Map
Queering the Map is a great resource to find other people’s stories based on location. Below we’ve highlighted a few stories around campus – you can get lost for hours reading LGBTQ+ stories from people in Manchester and beyond.
LGBTQ+ History Month Events
There’s still time to get to an LGBTQ+ History Month event hosted by the University if you have missed out on the programme so far.
LGBTQ+ Orgs Across Manchester
–Feel Good Club for LGBTQ+ events in the city centre
–Manchester LGBTQ+ Meetups to meet other community members
–Searching LGBTQ+, queer, gay, trans etc into Eventbrite can help you find less advertised events
–Queer Family Tea for sober, intergenerational communal meals
Want to read more?
Prejudice and Pride is a book about LGBTQ+ activists from Manchester.
The book explores aspects of LGBTQ+ activist history. It covers educational activism, youth work activism and the history of the LGBTQ+ Centre in Manchester.
