Dr Sean Pert, a person with glasses, smiling

Dr Sean Pert: UK LGBT+ History Month 2025

by EDI Blog | 31 Jan 2025 | LGBTQ+ | 0 comments

From drag nuns, hilarious placards, handbag throwing (literally) and mass demonstration, Manchester’s queer community has always made its mark in a wholly unique way.

This year’s theme is Activism and Social Change. Manchester is renowned for its rich LGBT+ history, including demonstrations to equalise the age of consent, oppose Section 28, and establish Pride, which raised money for people living through the AIDS Crisis.

Legal Challenges

Until 1967, homosexuality was illegal in the UK. Partial decriminalisation in 1967 set the age of consent at 21 and only in private. This meant that even in the 1980s and 1990s, friends putting up a gay couple in their home were breaking the law as ‘private’ meant not only a closed or locked door but an entirely separate abode! The age of consent was lowered to 18 in 1994 and finally equalised at 16 in 2000. During this period, many men were labelled as criminals for consensual acts. Additionally, LGBT+ people could not join the armed forces, marry, or adopt children. Section 28 of the Local Government Act (1988) made it illegal to “intentionally promote homosexuality”. The effect of this law was chilling, leading school staff to often fail to support their LGBT+ pupils or address bullying. Section 28 was finally repealed in 2003 (BBC, 2019). I recall drinking in ‘High Society,’ old enough to buy alcohol but terrified of being arrested on leaving with a man.

LGBT+ Activism in Manchester

Manchester’s Gay Village has been a centre of LGBT+ activism and community support, playing a pivotal role in providing safe spaces and fostering a sense of solidarity among LGBT+ individuals.

The Rembrandt Hotel in Manchester’s Gay Village was home to Northern Concord, a support group for cross-dressing men and transexual men and women (Burns, 2018). I remember groups of trans women drinking and chatting to other LGB people and commenting that this was their only safe space, with many expecting rejection, even from LGB cis people.

Huge demonstrations through Manchester’s Gay Village by Canal Street were held to demand change and support people living with HIV and AIDS. Activism was dangerous as discrimination against LGBT+ people was commonplace. In Manchester, Police Chief Constable James Anderton actively harassed the LGBT+ community through aggressive policing and stated that homosexuals were “swirling in a human cesspit of their own making” (BBC, 2005).

This oppressive social and political atmosphere focused the LGBT+ community. The humour and resilience of its members really shone through, serving as a role model for younger LGBT+ individuals. During the 1980s and 1990s, Manchester’s Gay Village denizens marched openly in the daylight, proudly proclaiming and celebrating their identities. Despite being Events such as the demonstration against Section 28 in 1988 attracted an estimated 20,000 people (Walsh, 2017). This powerful community action was repeated for the Liberation ’91 protest, which saw thousands of people march to the town hall to demand change, with people coming out of their offices to stare at the unusual event (g7uk, 2004).

Pride (known variously as Village Fete, Mardi Gras, the Big Weekend, and Pride) was established on August Bank holiday 1985, with support from Labour Councillors. In 1989, fundraising was organised for Monsall Hospital’s HIV/AIDS wards. At that time, people with AIDS were often ostracised, with even hospital staff often neglecting to provide basic care, so community support was a lifeline to those living with the virus. Pride was originally a fun community event with activities such as handbag throwing, races, jumble sales and even jumping into the canal. The Manchester Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (drag nuns) could often be seen roller skating around Canal Street spreading safer sex information, which in no mean feat on those cobbles! At the pride march, chants such as “2, 4, 6, 8, is your girlfriend really straight?” could be heard, alongside The Salford Ladies United Temperance Society (drag poking fun at the moralising aspects of society with placards proclaiming: “Mince is a noun not a verb!”). This demonstrates the political but fun nature of the participants. Pride is now a huge commercial annual event but some of these camp protest elements survive.

The Ongoing Fight for Equality

With the equal age of consent, schools able to educate young people about secularity and same-sex marriage rights (initially as Civil Partnerships in 2004 and then marriage in 2014), you might be forgiven for thinking that the time for activism is in the past. However, LGBT+ discrimination and hate crimes are on the rise. Hate crimes based on sexual orientation remain high, with more than 22,000 per year (Home Office, 2024). Trans and non-binary people also experience high levels of discrimination and violence. The demonisation of trans people echoes the hostile language of the press in the 1980s (Braidwood, 2018).

Society has changed significantly due to the internet and smartphone, with AI promising even more transformation. I wonder what Manchester University’s Alan Turing would have thought of meeting a date on Grindr, or even flirting with an AI generated virtual boyfriend on an app. Much discussion, social change and protest is now online, but Pride has always been an in-your-face protest, and LGBT+ people in Manchester have shown inventive, fun and impactful ways to protest against their oppression over the years. Who knows what activism we will do next to effect social change?

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