Manchester's LGBTQ+ Communities: Prominent Figures

 

Spirit of Manchester 2023 LGBTQ+ Prominent Figures

As part of the Spirit of Manchester 2023, our 38 tables at King's House Conference Centre were named after inspirational, prominent LGBTQ+ figures who have had a positive impact on Manchester, both past and present through their hard work in the community. 

Our team at Macc reached out to all figures that we were honoring and invited them to join us in celebrating the hard work of volunteers and VCSE organisations within Manchester, and were delighted to be joined by some fantastic individuals for the evening who were able to come to our event. 

To view each of the biographies on each of the tables during the award ceremony, click here. 

Read below for a short summary of each of the inspirational LGBTQ+ figures in Manchester that we honored!

Did you attend the Spirit of Manchester? Tag us in your photos from the evening using #SpiritOfMcr23!

 

38 Prominent LGBTQ+ Manchester Figures

 

Zane is a writer director, writer, and theatre-maker, and is still remembered for his role as Dane in Channel 4’s Queer as Folk. Adam is Artistic Director of Hive North, a Manchester theatre company established in 2004 to create exciting and empowering theatre for and about the LGBTQ+ community. Hive North encourages the professional development of emerging LGBTQ+ actors and creatives across Greater Manchester. Hive North’s annual event OutStageUs has become an important date in Manchester’s cultural calendar, celebrating and showcasing LGBTQ+ new writing. In 2023, OutStageUs received over 150 scripts from across the UK and employed over 30 LGBTQ+ artists. Hive North also produce Adam’s ground-breaking play Outloud, which is based on interviews with LGBTQ+ young people and explores homophobia and hate crime. The play tours annually to secondary schools and has been seen by over 100,00 young people. In 2022 Adam wrote and directed Tango’s Big Adventure which toured primary schools and told the story of two male penguins raising a chick called Tango. In 2017 Adam and Mike Lee co-wrote Be More Martyn – the boy with the Deirdre tattoo which celebrated the life of Martyn Hett, who died in the Manchester Arena bombing. The play toured the UK and was nominated for a Manchester Culture Award. For over ten years Adam was the director of the George House Trust Candlelit Vigil at Manchester Pride, before stepping down in 2016. He is a proud ambassador for George House Trust and continues to work with the charity. Adam worked with George House Trust’s gay men’s group and the LGBT Foundation’s Chemsex support group to create the play Jock Night, which is currently being performed in London’s West End at the Seven Dials Playhouse. Adam lives in Broadbottom with his husband Dick and their two dogs, Woody, and Scruff.

Afshan D’souza Lodhi is a poet who, though born in Dubai, has spent most of her life in Manchester. She is a writer of scripts and poetry. Her work has been performed and translated into numerous languages across the world. Afshan has edited many anthologies and has an essay featured in Picador’s collection by Muslim women called Its Not About The Burqa. Her debut poetry collection ‘re:desire’ was longlisted for the Jhalak Prize in 2021. A pilot she has written called Chop Chop, based on her own stage play with the same name, was selected as part of the second annual #Muslim List, a curated list of the most promising unmade scripts from Muslim writers in Hollywood that reside on The Black List. As well as her own writing, Afshan is keen to develop other younger and emerging artists and sits on the boards of Manchester Literature Festival and Pie Radio.

Alan Turing (1912–1954) was a mathematician, computer scientist and codebreaker. Often dubbed 'the father of modern computing', Turing was famous for his work developing the first modern computers, decoding the encryption of German Enigma machines during the Second World War, and detailing a procedure known as the Turing Test, forming the basis for artificial intelligence. Turing was based at The University of Manchester after his work with the British Intelligence Service at Bletchley Park during World War II. During Turing's life, homosexuality was a criminal offence and Turing was convicted in 1952 of “Gross Indecency”. Alan Turing was faced with an impossibly cruel choice of imprisonment, or probation on the condition he underwent chemical castration. Turing died from suicide two years later. In 2013 Turing was given a posthumous royal pardon. In 2016 the Government announced gay and bisexual men convicted of now-abolished sexual offences in England and Wales were to receive posthumous pardons under an amendment dubbed the "Turing law".

Allan Horsfall (1927 – 2012) was a British gay rights campaigner and founder of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality. He was also the co-founder and leader of the North-Western Homosexual Law Reform Committee (NWHLRC), a regional and provincial branch of the Homosexual Law Reform Society (HLRS). The HLRS was formed to secure the implementation of the 1957 Wolfenden Report, which had recommended the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality. It focussed on winning support from establishment figures, such as politicians, writers, academics and church leaders. Horsfall saw the need for a democratic, down-to-earth campaign group that would take the case for law reform into communities; where gay supporters could get involved and be open about their sexuality. In 1964, Horsfall founded Manchester-based North-West Homosexual Law Reform Committee (NWHLRC), Britain’s first ever grassroots, gay-led homosexual campaign group. When decriminalisation was won in 1967, the HLRS faded but the NWHLRC continued to grow. Horsfall recognised there was still a long way to go as many aspects of gay life remained unlawful. The NWHLRC morphed into the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) in 1971. In the 70s and 80s, CHE was the UK’s largest democratic, mass membership LGBT rights organisation, with over 5,000 members in more than 100 local groups. He campaigned for LGBT rights until his death in 2012.

Albert Kennedy (31 January 1973 – 30 April 1989) was 16 years-old when he tragically died after falling from the roof of a carpark in Manchester, after experiencing homophobic abuse. It became clear that this was not an isolated event, and many young people were forced into homelessness or hostile environments due to homophobia. Therefore, Kennedy’s death inspired the formation of ‘akt’ (formerly the Albert Kennedy Trust) founded by Cath Hall, who saw the great need for an organisation to support young LGBTQ+ people who were facing homelessness because of rejection at home. This became the world’s first ever service for homeless LGBTQ+ youth, providing safe homes and support, and subsequent mentoring. In 2019, akt marked its 30th anniversary with continuing support and the important message that even after 30 years, the issues affecting LGBTQ+ youth homelessness are still relevant today.

Angela Cooper and Luchia Fitzgerald have spent the last half a century fighting for their rights as women and as lesbians. Their activism revolutionised Manchester whilst transforming the lives of thousands of women. Together, they co-founded the Manchester branch of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF), opened the city’s first women’s refuge, launched a radical queer printing press and even had time to start a rock band. Yet no record of them exists in the city’s archives; theirs is a story that risked disappearing from history. It was finally told in their own autobiographical film ‘Invisible Women’ (2018). The short documentary follows their journey of activism and rebellion through the 70s and into the 80s and emphasises how the fight isn’t over. It brings light to what was previously a little-known story of how this duo changed the face of Manchester and the country forever. “I believe with every bone in my body that if there’s something that needs doing let’s get it done,” Fitzgerald said. “So I’m never done. No, the fight never stops. It really doesn’t. It never stops.”

Ann Kenney (13 September 1879 – 9 July 1953) was an English working class suffragette and socialist feminist. Born in Oldham, Ann was one of twelve children and worked in a cotton mill from the age of 10. She became a leading figure in the Women's Social and Political Union, co-founding its first branch in London. In 1905, she and Christabel Pankhurst (a daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst) interrupted a Manchester rally to ask Winston Churchill, then MP for Oldham, and his Liberal Party colleague Sir Edward Grey if they believed women should have the right to vote. Both women were imprisoned for several days for assault and obstruction. Some credit the incident with inaugurating a new phase in the struggle for women's suffrage in the UK with the adoption of more militant tactics. During her life Annie was imprisoned thirteen times and took part in hunger strikes which frequently resulted in her being force-fed.

Bev Craig became Leader of Manchester City Council in December 2021. First elected in 2011 as a Burnage Councillor, she held a range of responsibilities, including serving for 4 years as Executive Member for Adult Social Care, Health and Wellbeing, then as Deputy Leader overseeing resources, capital programmes, social value and digital. Born and raised on council estate just outside of Belfast, she was the first in her family to go to university, moving to Manchester in 2003 to study and making it her home. After graduating from the University of Manchester she began her career in local government, before working in higher education and then for a national trade union. As Executive Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing she led the city of Manchester's COVID health and community response, managing the crisis and focusing on a more equal recovery, and has championed the City’s work to become a Living Wage City. As Leader her focus is on Manchester’s COVID recovery, the importance of building a more inclusive and sustainable economy, children and young people, equalities, housing and zero carbon. She is also Greater Manchester Combined Authority portfolio lead for Economy, Business & Inclusive Growth. Outside of politics she enjoys sports and being outdoors, music, culture and enjoying all that Manchester has to offer.

Carl Austin-Behan was born and raised in Crumpsall. He joined the Royal Airforce as a firefighter aged 19. In 1997 Carl was dismissed from the RAF, as it was deemed that his homosexuality was ‘incompatible with service life’. Moving back to Manchester he joined Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service in 1998 before setting up a promotions company and then a specialist cleaning company. In 2001, he entered and won a national competition, Mr Gay UK. He developed an interest in politics, seeing a route to making a difference and inciting change. He was elected Labour Member for Burnage Ward, sat on the Neighbourhood Scrutiny Committee, was a member of the Licensing Panel and was Lead Member for Gay Men and Lead Member for Cycling. In 2016 he was elected to the office of Lord Mayor of Manchester: the youngest in the city’s history, and the first openly gay Lord Mayor. He raised public awareness and promoted the diversity, contribution and achievements of the LGBTQ+ community. He is an ambassador for Broughton House; President of Contact Theatre; Trustee for LGBT Foundation, Fighting with Pride (LGBT veterans charity), Chair of The Running Bee, and working with various LGBTQ+ charities. In 2019 Carl was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater Manchester and received an OBE in the 2020 New Years Honours List for services to Charity, LGBTQ+ Equality and Communities.

Professor Carol Ann Duffy DBE is an award-winning Scottish poet, who is currently a Professor of Contemporary Poetry, and the Creative Director of the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University. In 2009, Dame Carol Ann Duffy became the first female, first openly gay person, and first Scottish person to become Poet Laureate in the role’s 400-year history. Her poetry is very widely known and liked, with her collections of work including Mean Time, Love Poems and The Bees, along with her writing for children which includes Queen Munch and Queen Nibble, The Skipping-Rope Snake and The Tear Thief.

Cheddar Gorgeous is the stage name of Michael Atkins, a British drag performer who competed on the fourth series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, where they finished as the runner-up. Drag performer and influencer known for their Instagram account that features more than 240,000 followers to their fabulous content which includes lifestyle posts and showcases their incredibly elaborate stage looks. They describe themselves as someone who pushes boundaries and buttons concerning gender and performance art, their look primarily being described as other-worldly or alien. They hold a Ph.D. for Anthropology that specifically focused on the research of historical sex work, fluid identities, and villages where homosexual individuals were welcome. They have been performing drag since 2009 and came up quickly among the ranks of high-profile drag performers in the United Kingdom, a driving force behind her hometown, Manchester's late-night cabaret as well as The Family Gorgeous collective of drag performers.

Chloe is a youth worker and community organiser, passionate about centering fun and joy in her work. Chloe led on Greater Manchester's programme for QTIPOC youth at The Proud Trust for 5 years and has been the Strategic Lead for Rainbow Noir, a QTIPOC social and community action group based in Manchester, since 2012. At Colours Youth Resi, Chloe can be found either in the screen printing room helping young people make awesome t-shirts or encouraging joyful dancing around the camp fire. Chloe has an admiration for a few QTIPOC , Chloe really admire the elders in our UK community who've paved the way for our community to thrive today, including for one example, folks involved with the Black Lesbian and Gay Centre in the 80s in London such as Femi Otitoju, Dorothea Smart, Savi Hensman and Dennis Carney. Chloe is obsessed with house plants and have over 30!

Author of 'Visible Justice: An LGBTQ+ Inclusivity Handbook,' Christopher Owen holds a PhD from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, with expertise in intersectional systemic oppression and young people's contemporary literature and media. They have recently signed a book deal with Routledge to publish this research. Dr. Owen has also presented at over a dozen conferences internationally and has published articles on intersectionality, cognitive theories of identity, feminist revisionism, the history of social change, and queer resistance. In addition to the wide variety of intersectional liberation programming, training, talks and consultations they have delivered across Greater Manchester and the UK, Christopher provides his inclusivity expertise as a member of both the Advisory Board of Heard Storytelling and the technical panel of the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter. He works at Manchester Pride as their Inclusivity Development Manager, delivering the All Equals Charter, an intersectional LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion programme.

Claud Cunningham and Paula Gannon-Lewis co-founded Black Angel, a pioneering club night, in the late 1990’s. Meeting in Manchester’s Gay Village, Claud and Paula immediately struck up a friendship and the idea of creating a more inclusive space and the opening of the first women’s bar in Manchester helped bring this idea to life, creating a night where they could hear the music they wanted to dance to, see and meet people who looked like them and provide a space where Queer Women of Colour allies who were previously invisible and often isolated, could feel safe and express themselves Playing RnB, Hip Hop and Bhangra. It provided a safe space where we could be ourselves; not be in a minority; feel visible and be treated respectfully. It was a warm, welcoming, uplifting event where Queer Women of Colour belonged and felt empowered, and people would travel from all over the country to come to a Black Angel night. Black Angel started off as a club night, but it gave birth to a social movement inspiring others to create more inclusive spaces and events for Queer People of Colour.

Dame Gracy was well known in Manchester as a stalwart activist and community member in the Gay Village. Gracy was a dynamic activist for gay rights and for people living with HIV, a drag artist, and a beloved community member who was instrumental in organising gay resistance and pride in Manchester, and supporting the fight for HIV provision and against stigma. Friends, family, and members of Manchester’s LGBTQ+ community came together on Friday 8th April 2022 to celebrate and honour the life of Gracy. The event was both a celebration and a memorial, and included a timeline of Gracy’s life and LGBT activism in Manchester, readings from friends and family, two fantastic short documentary films about Gracy made by Jemma O’Brien, plus poetry, conversation, music, drinks and social time.

Drag queen Divina de Campo, or Owen Farrow, stands as a beloved queer icon in Manchester’s Gay Village, with a mural of them appearing on a wall of a building behind G-A-Y’s venue before their 2019 appearance in the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. Alongside their success as a multi-faceted drag performer, Divina has shown support and solidarity with LGBTQ+ communities both locally and nationwide. From donating famous items from their drag wardrobe to be auctioned by Manchester’s George House Trust in support of those suffering with HIV, to speaking out on TV about the reality of queer censorship and the damage caused by Section 28 in their own experience, they have used their drag status and platform to help spread awareness of LGBTQ+ issues. Divina studied at Manchester Metropolitan University for their BA, where they met their now husband who helped inspire them to take up drag, after moving from Brighouse in Calderdale. When asked in 2019 by the MEN what their favourite part of Manchester was they responded ‘That’s the easiest question. It’s the people. They’re the best anywhere. Friendly, open, honest.’

Duncan Craig is the founder and Chief Executive of Survivors Manchester, an award winning VCSE organisation providing therapeutic and advocacy support to over 950 male survivors of sexual violation across Greater Manchester each year. As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and later, sexual exploitation, he has both personal and professional experience of male sexual violation, leading him to work with Government, NHS England, CPS and various Police Forces. He was involved in the development of the UK Victim Strategy and Cross-Government position statement on male victims of VAWG crimes. He has been a consultant on a number of media projects, including BBC Crimewatch and he has been a storyline advisor to Hollyoaks, Coronation Street and EastEnders. Since founding Survivors Manchester he has been a strong advocate of tackling sexual violence and has written for Huffington Post; and co-authored a number of pieces featured in both the press and academic resources. He has worked across continents alongside many influential academics and leaders. He was a co-founder of The Male Survivors Partnership and the Men and Boys Coalition, two networks focusing on addressing the needs of boys and men. In the 2020 New Year’s Honours List, Duncan was invested with an OBE for services to Male Victims of Rape and Child Abuse. He is also a recipient of the University of Manchester Medal of Honour.

Emmeline Pankhurst (15 July 1858 - 14 June 1928) was a British political activist who organised the UK suffragette movement and helped women win the right to vote. Born in Moss Side to politically active parents, Emmeline was introduced at the age of 14 to the women's suffrage movement. She founded and became involved with the Women's Franchise League, which advocated suffrage for women. In 1903 Emmeline established the Women's Social and Political Union, an all- women suffrage advocacy organisation dedicated to "deeds, not words". The group identified as independent from and was often in opposition to–political parties and the government. It became known for physical confrontations: its members smashed windows and assaulted police officers. Emmeline, her daughters and other activists received repeated prison sentences, where they staged hunger strikes to secure better conditions, and were often force-fed. Her work is recognised as a crucial element in achieving women'.

Forty years ago, a drag queen named Foo Foo Lammar was riding high as Manchester’s most flamboyant life and soul of the party. But to ex-partner Alan Owen, the man behind the glitzy costume and extreme hairstyle was just a regular guy with a big heart. From his humble upbringing in Ancoats, as a rag-and-bone man's son, Frank Pearson helped build the city’s reputation as Britain’s gay capital. As well as running clubs, including his iconic Foo Foo’s Palace in Dale Street, Frank also tirelessly worked hard fundraising for charities such as the Christie, where he was treated for cancer before his death on November 7, 2003, aged 65 Aside from the, albeit impressive, mural on the side of the Molly House, there is nothing else in Manchester that represents the importance of Frank’s memory across the city. John said: “I think Manchester should do more to pay tribute to Frank. He was the northern version of Danny la Rue. Frank was a great businessman but he also gave a lot back, especially to local hospitals and children’s wards. “If there was a function and he was there as Frank, he would just get up on stage and change the whole atmosphere. He is still missed to this very day.”

Born in the late 18th century in Doncaster, Harry Stokes, who was originally assigned female at birth, assumed a male identity early in his life until the end of his years in 1859. Harry moved to Manchester from Sheffield with his wife and worked a wide range of roles from bricklaying, working as a pub landlord to a special constable. When his wife, Ann Stokes, requested a divorce from Harry in 1838, she unveiled Harry as ‘a woman in disguise’, resulting in a police surgeon issuing a certificate of Harry’s original gender declaring him a woman. Headline articles hit the tabloids on his gender identity. He was advised to dress as they deemed a woman should, or to leave Manchester. Harry decided to do neither and continued his life as Harry Stokes, a man, who would later go on to start a relationship with Francis Collins, a barmaid from Salford, in which he would become a step-father for her son. Harry’s legacy has since lived on, with the People’s History Museum hosting a play on the fascinating events of his life as one of the first trans pioneers in the city of Manchester.

Helen Hardy is the Founder and CEO of the first women's football retail site in the world, ‘FOUDYS’ and the founder of Manchester’s biggest football club movement ‘Manchester Laces’. After experiencing inclusive football elsewhere, Helen felt that Manchester lacked a similar space and wanted to change this by creating Manchester Laces in March 2021. Founding the city's first ever inclusive woman’s, transgender and non-binary football team, Helen has created a space where everybody can feel welcome, socialise, exercise and have fun. The club was awarded National Grassroots Club of the Year in 2022, and in recognition of her achievements, Helen has also been featured in a mural on the Spanish Steps of Wembley Stadium.

Jax started her professional career as a Youth and Community worker. For the past 40 years, she have volunteered and worked across Greater Manchester in the voluntary and public sector, offering a voice to the unheard and often invisible. Jax am passionate about Intersectionality, asserting how aspects of our identities and discrimination overlap. Jax joined the fire service in 2011 as a Community Safety Manager, and is one of the co-founders of the most recent LGBTQ+ staff network in 2016. She supported the development of other staff networks across the organisation, ensuring joint events each year inclusive of LGBTQ+ History Month, Black History Month, and many more key events throughout the year, driving inclusive change for underrepresented groups in the workplace, with a focus on Race, Gender, LGBTQ+ Disability equity in the workplace. Now staff and volunteers have visibility, a voice and additional confidential support through the Rainbow, Women’s, Race & Faith, Enable and Armed Forces staff networks. Jax is a workplace Coach and leads their Stonewall working group, and was a member on the Greater Manchester LGBT+ Equality Panel, driving forward the GM LGBT 5-year action plan (2018-2021). She won the Asian Fire Service “Woman of the year” 2018 and was awarded Stonewall NW Role Model of the year in 2020. As Diversity and Inclusion manager, and Deputy Chair of Trustees at LGBT Foundation, Jax feels extremely privileged, to be able to use these platforms, to contribute to the inclusive ambitions within GMCA, Greater Manchester Fire Service, and LGBT Foundation, sharing Queer hope and joy.

Recognised as an influential thinker in HR, John is a Professor of Leadership at the University of Exeter Business School in the United Kingdom and a Fellow of the Institute of Science and Technology. He's the author of the New York Times and the Sunday Times best selling leadership book, The Promises of Giants. John draws on his early life in Stockport, near Manchester (UK), his career as the first Briton to play professional basketball in the NBA and deep psychological insights, to challenge and inspire others. In doing so, he continues to be driven by the words his mother once used to inspire him when she said that: "The most unlikely of people in the most improbable of circumstances can become extraordinary." John is a mentor, a teacher, and always using his deep psychological insight combined with real-life experience to provide a touchstone for people and companies who want to thrive, achieve, and align their beliefs, values and ethics. People who think facts and evidence should bow to opinion drive him crazy; he’s passionate about StarWars, is a self- confessed nerd and geek, a former NBA sportsman who has a voice like honey and is transported by music and loves nothing more than to eat decedent that are bad for him - especially pies!

Joseph Houston and William Whelton, two actors who once struggled to make ends meet, transformed a former cotton mill in Manchester into the award-winning Hope Mill Theatre. Initially, they managed all aspects, from ticketing to cleaning. The theatre, inspired by London venues, aimed to fill a market gap for intimate musical productions. The venture began with a shoestring budget, comprised of a £10,000 loan, crowdfunding for seats, and a loan from William's mother. Despite financial constraints and challenges, including performing cleaning duties themselves when their cleaner was unavailable, their passion project flourished, earning accolades and the opportunity to transfer shows to London. The theatre also holds sentimental value as it is set to host their wedding reception, symbolising not just their entrepreneurial journey but also their personal journey as a couple.

Julia Grant (21 September 1954 – 2 January 2019) was the first transgender person to publicly share her story on UK television. This was shown through five intimate hour-long documentaries, that offered the UK population a previously unseen insight into the transgender community and the transitioning process. Julia owned a number of café’s and bars in Manchester’s Canal Street and was active in establishing local LGBTQ+ events. Later, Grant moved to Spain and began Benidorm Gay Pride. In her lifetime, Julia saw the transgender community expand and gain acceptance beyond all expectations, a change helped by her own activism for greater understanding and better treatment.

Julian Gray is an illustrator and comic creator based in Manchester, UK. Unapologetically queer, trans, disabled, and mixed race, Julian is passionate about filling the world with stories featuring marginalised characters where their marginalisation is not the centrepiece. He is especially fond of flawed characters and queer romances. His illustrations are often character-driven and take inspiration from his favourites: superhero comics, speculative fiction, the Victorian aristocracy and historical gothic aesthetics. He has worked with clients such as the BBC, LGBT Foundation, Switchboard, Disability Arts Online, and DaDaFest. His first solo exhibition, 'Stories For Us', ran at the Lowry from March to May 2022 and introduced his comic work to a broader audience. Julian is a member of the Association of Comic Creators and the Horizons Collective for British East & South East Asian Creatives in the North West.

Juno Birch- Manchester born Frodsham and Runcorn-raised drag queen, sculptor, and YouTuber began performing in drag professionally in late 2018 and has since received significant media attention for her work. Birch is known for her YouTube channel and for her unique drag aesthetic, which features pastel "alien skin" (typically blue or pink), yellow hair, and retro sunglasses. Also an Instagram influencer who is known for sharing photos of both herself and her art for over 600,000 followers. She is recognised for her unique miniature self-portraits often featuring blonde wigs and pink colour schemes. She is knownn for performing in drag with her unique ‘alien skin’. She first started sharing her artwork through Instagram in October of 2015. She then gained further attention in 2017 when she started her series of self-portraits.

Kate is a transgender performer, activist and theatre maker. In 2016 she founded Trans Creative arts company with the tagline “telling our own stories”. In 2017 she initiated Manchester's first trans arts festival Trans Vegas giving a platform to 300 trans voices and in 2020 the festival responded to COVID-19 by going digital for the first time and in 2022 is back to a fully live programme. Her theatre work includes; the award-winning “Big Girl’s Blouse”, acclaimed one woman show ‘You've Changed’, playing Feste in Twelfth Night & Electra in Gypsy, both at the Royal Exchange. Kate has directed Transpose at the Barbican two years running and regularly speaks on panels and made guest appearances on the Guilty Feminist podcast at the live shows. In 2018 she was nominated for the Gay Times Arts and Culture Award.

Kiera and Aimie Lawlor-Skillen are co-founders of Feel Good Club, a brand that is on a mission to normalise the conversation around mental health and feelings in general. Starting from an Instagram page and the development of hand-printed merchandise they opened Feel Good Club Manchester, their flagship coffee shop and bar. Here they serve up a whole load of feel good vibes along with coffee, brunch, cocktails and full bar. The space is a warm and welcoming community which aims to normalise conversations around mental health, while offering a safe space for everyone regardless of how they identify. Alongside this, they run weekly live streams on Instagram around mental health and self-care – with guests ranging from fitness instructors to wellbeing coaches. Through both the online platform and coffee shop, the couple’s goal is to spread happiness and equip their community with the tools to become the best versions of themselves.

Louise Wallwein is a renowned and award-winning poet, playwright and performer from Manchester, and has made a name for herself as an explosive artist that detonates her audiences’ imaginations. Louise was appointed as an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2018 for services to Spoken Word Music and outstanding achievement in the Community. Louise believes in bridging the distance between a person and their own voice, working with all sorts of people and having conducted many short and long-term residencies since 1999. Among many writing residencies, Louise was the 2006 Poet in Residence in Queensland and Writer in Residence at the University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Canada, as well as more local residencies at 42nd Street, Cartwheel Arts and The Royal Exchange. Louise is very proud of her work in Communities and Schools and has worked with thousands of people in many different contexts to find and develop their voices. She has been described variously as fearless and explosive and has a particularly excellent reputation for engaging young people and those often deemed difficult to reach. Her approach is simple, we all have a story, and we all should have the opportunity to tell these stories in some way.

Lucky Roy Singh is an award-winning LGBTQ+ Activist, an Honour Based Domestic Violence Campaigner and Mother to the House of Spice, who has many charity accolades who lives in Manchester, UK. Lucky Roy Singh has worked tirelessly to support survivors of domestic abuse, honour-based abuse and LGBTQIA+ community by educating police forces across the UK, advocating for survivors to the British Government, and being an ambassador for charities such as Karma Nirvana. Lucky’s focus has been on LGBTQ+ individuals which earned Lucky many accolades, most notable the Pride Attitude Magazine Award and recently hosted the first queer Asian takeover in history at Manchester Pride. Lucky’s skill and talent with performance plus dedication to anti-racism work, have seen Lucky lead a successful grass roots performance collective called the House of Spice. This is the UK’s first LGBTQ+ South Asian, Middle Eastern and North African House. In the House’s first year, Lucky gave powerful speech during Manchester Pride in 2022 where Lucky vowed to turn racist incidents many LGBTQ+ People of Colour had experienced (the House’s included), into a positive outcome for the community. Lucky’s determination lead to the delivery of this promise with major opportunities for performances for Manchester Pride, LGBT Foundation, Homobloc, Transcreative, and other events and other organisations. Lucky continues to mentor and nurture those within the demographic and to continue bringing in more opportunities for the long-term strength of the community. When Lucky takes a break, Lucky enjoys margarita and chips.

Margaret Roff grew up in Sussex and then moved to the North of England to study sociology at Sheffield University. ln 1982 Margaret was elected as a Labour Councillor for the Rusholme ward. At a time when issues such as sexism and sexuality were not taken seriously Margaret worked with others to introduce equal opportunities to the City Council. She also came out as a lesbian and joined groups campaigning for lesbian and gay rights, attracting unwarranted criticism when she accepted the nomination for Chair/Mayor of the Council in 1985. She chose to withdraw from the nomination although not from political action. During her time in Manchester she supported groups and individuals campaigning on women's rights, anti-deportation campaigns, the fight against racism and for lesbian and gay rights. She was always committed to the struggle to improve the situation of low paid workers' rights and in the last year of her life she took a job with the Low Pay Unit.

Matthew was working in law when he visited a large chain bookshop in Manchester and noticed there was no LGBTQ section. He is now the owner of Northern Quarter bookshop Queer Lit UK which was opened up in August 2021. Queer Lit began as an online bookstore based in Manchester, UK, stocking exclusively LGBTQ books. Opening an online business, especially one known for being brick-and-mortar, in the middle of a pandemic was no easy feat. But Matthew made it happen and even found ways to virtually recreate the vital sense of community, like starting a free book programme and a Queer Lit book club. Now, Queer Lit has it’s very own physical location in Manchester. The space is wall-to-wall green shelves, stocked with titles encompassing the full LGBTQ spectrum of identities. Queer Lit was even named Best New Business at the LGBTQ+ Business Awards. It went from offering 700 titles online to offering 2000 titles in its physical space. Since opening, the shop has donated more than 300 books to MPs on the trans community and won business awards.

Paul Fairweather has been in involved with a wide range of community and campaigning groups since 1974. He came to Manchester in 1978 to work for the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE), then the main gay rights group in the country. During the 1980s he worked as the Liaison Officer at Manchester Gay Centre and then as an Equal Opportunities Officer (Gay Men) for Manchester City Council. In 1985 he was one of six gay men who started Manchester Aidsline which is now George House Trust. He was involved in organising the huge national demonstration against Section 28 in 1988 and is also a founder member of the Manchester Lesbian and Gay Policing Initiative and the Positive Parenting campaign. He was a Labour councillor in Harpurhey from 2003-20014 and took the lead on Gay Men’s issues. He currently work part time as the LGBTQI Development worker in Bury and also for George House Trust where he manages the Positive Speakers project and works with an amazing group of volunteers running HIV Awareness sessions based around our experiences of living with HIV. He has been a member of the Manchester Proud Chorus for many years and for the last 16 has been dancing Argentinian Tango at Queer Tango festivals in Europe and Argentina.

Dr Paul Martin OBE is Chief Executive of LGBT Foundation. Paul has been actively involved in championing the rights of LGBTQ+ people to live happy, healthy lives for over 30 years. Paul is a founding member of Healthy Gay Manchester. Through his determination 25 years ago, Manchester's condom and lube distribution scheme for gay and bisexual men was established, now widely recognised as one of the longest-running and most highly regarded schemes in the UK. In 2000, Healthy Gay Manchester merged with the Manchester Gay and Lesbian Switchboard to become the UK’s largest health and wellbeing charity for LGBTQ+ communities – now LGBT Foundation. The same spirit that fuelled our beginnings still drives us today. LGBT Foundation celebrates, supports and empowers LGBTQ+ people, so together we can realise our full potential. Paul is a key contributor to the National LGBTQ+ Health Strategy which drives for meaningful, evidence-based change towards equitable healthcare. Paul is a member of LGBT Consortium’s Strategic Group, a national partnership of LGBTQ+ organisations. Paul was awarded an OBE in 2011. In 2021, Paul was presented with an honorary Doctorate of Social Sciences by the University of Bolton for his outstanding contribution to the community. LGBT Foundation won Charity of the Year 2022 at the British LGBT Awards. Paul sits on the Boards of Salix Homes and Hope Mill Theatre. Paul is happily married to his husband Pete and lives in Chorlton, Manchester.

Russell T Davies moved to his adopted home of Manchester in 1987 and has never shied away from bold, loud and proud writing for television, showcasing queer talents and stories throughout his career. Representation has always been at the centre of his writing, providing the LGBTQ+ community with someone they can relate to and who can help them through the highs and lows of self-discovery. For this, Russell’s importance within the community cannot be understated. Russell has notably written TV shows such as Queer as Folk (1999), that was one of the first shows to proudly represent the LGBTQ+ community onscreen, as well as It’s a Sin and Cucumber. Russell was made a Patron of the George House Trust in 2015 and has been a prominent advocate of the LGBTQ+ community in Manchester and across the UK.

Stephen Whittle is a legal scholar, activist and Equalities Law professor emeritus at Manchester Metropolitan University. He has been involved in transgender support since his own transition from female to male in 1975. In 1992 he became vice President of the campaign group Press for Change which sought to ensure respect and equality for transgender people across the UK and beyond. As a long-time advocate for trans rights, Stephen has been involved extensively in challenging legal frameworks, being recognised with the Human Rights Award in 2002 by civil rights group Liberty. His scholarship has highlighted the challenges faced by transgender people in seeking equitable employment. In 2005, he was included in the New Year’s Honours list, appointed as an OBE “for services to Gender issues”. Stephen was the first non-medical professional to be appointed as President of the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH). Stephen continues to be a regular commentator on law and policy affecting the transgender community. His interests include volunteering to support asylum seekers through legal appeals, finally learning to sing, his garden, and enjoying life with his wife and their 4 grown up children.

Tony Openshaw, who was born in Bolton, set up Asylum Support Housing Advice (ASHA) in 2004 – helping 7,000 people seeking asylum in Greater Manchester. He retired in 2015 and joined Out In The City, a social and support group for members of the LGBT+ communities aged over 50, which he now runs. Tony has been involved in campaigns raising awareness of HIV and the LGBT+ communities throughout his life. He spoke at the Section 28 Rally in Manchester in front of 20,000 people, set up the first LGBT+ asylum seeker group in the UK and was centrally involved in ACT UP, a non-violent direct action group campaigning on HIV & AIDS. The sad loss of his partner to pancreatic cancer shook his life and retirement but he remains active in the community, also volunteering at George House Trust (a HIV agency). Tony enjoys music – both recorded and live concerts – and even hosts his own reggae podcast. He regularly enters pub quizzes and loves visiting places of interest.