Tag Archives: gay village

 

The shadowy, twilight world of the homosexual was already a cliche and mainstream joke on TV by the late 1970s

In the midst of the hysteria surrounding the TV series “It’s A Sin”, many articles have been published about what gay life was like in the 1980s. Supposedly…  In those days many of us gay men were out and proud and we didn’t seem to face much homophobia personally. If we did, we tended to […]

 

20 years after the first broadcast – exclusive photos of Queer As Folk on location on Canal Street

It’s 20 years since the broadcast of the first episode of Queer As Folk on Channel 4. I shot these photographs later that year as the crew filmed the final episode of the second series on Canal Street in Manchester. As they did,the weather changed and there was a tremendous rain shower. On location on […]

Staggering figures for reported violent and sexual crimes in Manchester’s gay village in Nov 2015

These are probably the highest ever since the police crime maps were introduced in December 2010. Where are the news stories? Where are the protests? Yet always plenty of finger pointing overseas… How many crimes aren’t reported or recorded by the police? What is being done? Nothing! See the crime maps here.

Why Manchester’s gay village must be consigned to history

We still need safe LGBT spaces. But the future lies in decentralising the LGBT community in Manchester. We must reduce the power of a controlling elite that has us by the throat. There may have been some good intentions behind the setting up of a “gay village” area more than 20 years ago, but now […]

Freedom of Information request reveals scale of police call outs to Manchester’s gay village venues (video)

The early hours of 13 January 2013. A still from the video footage which you can watch below. As I recorded this on Richmond Street I was physically assaulted by a man who took a swipe at my camera. He was bleeding and I was left with his blood over my hand and the camera. […]

Interview with Julia Grant (video)

A 70-minute interview with legendary Manchester gay village business woman Julia Grant. A decade ago, Julia Grant was one of the best-known business owners in Manchester’s gay village and an outspoken voice in both the LGBT and mainstream media. After Mardi Gras 1999 raised nothing at all for good causes, she ran the successful and […]

Wynnie LaFreak delivers a letter on behalf of the Facebook group ‘Facts about Manchester Pride’ (video)

In the absence of any official public forums or public meetings, we set up a group on Facebook to discuss the facts and changes people would like to see at Manchester Pride. The questions were put in a letter and on Friday 8th April 2011 Manchester’s premier drag queen Wynnie LaFreak delivered it to Pride […]