Beyond the Barriers: An Alternative Pride

It seems that there are two sides to Manchester Pride: the official, regulated and corporate ticketed events organised by the monolithic Manchester Pride Ltd, and the parties, protests and alternative events grown from the grassroots in response.

Originally a way for the LGBT community (and other sexual minorities) to protest police brutality in New York, ‘Pride’ is a bit of a catch-all term to describe the major annual gay rights event(s) of a city. In Manchester, jumble sales around Canal Street in the early 90s – established to raise money for local HIV and AIDS causes – evolved into a Mardi Gras and later into what we know as Manchester Pride; a ticketed and private party. The marches and events over the years have varied in their political relevance and accessibility, with some years featuring many non-commercial things and some years featuring virtually none. The year 2007 saw a week-long series of free events entitled Get Bent: its efforts have been immortalised at get-bent-manchester.com, a static version of the original interactive site from the time that describes Get Bent as a 'celebration of queer diversity'. This included talks on the situation facing queer activists in Poland and LGBT bullying in schools, as well as an event called ‘Gay Village or Gay Ghetto?’, which invited participants to discuss the role and purpose of the gay community in Manchester.

Collectives such as Kaffequeeria were part of efforts in 2009 to ‘Reclaim the Scene’; this was a year that saw a ‘Pride is a Protest’ bloc during the main march. But Kaffequeeria is no more, its co-founders Humaira Saeed and Clare Tebbutt having gone on to focus on gender studies PhDs instead of organising parties. Singer-songwriter Ste McCabe has played at a number of alternative Prides, but singles out Get Bent as one of the best for its blend of radical politics, quality performers (of the “weird and wonderful” variety) and great parties. “Manchester’s queer alternative culture tends to work in waves due to the population being quite transient," he says. "There'll be loads of DIY queer stuff happening one year, and then not much the next. Manchester really needs queer alternatives as the main ‘Pride’ event is probably the most soulless, empty, expensive and corporate one in the UK.”

The mainstream Manchester Pride certainly has a reputation for being oversaturated and commercialised. For the march itself, on Saturday 24 August, groups and organisations can’t just turn up on the day – they must register in advance by late July. Registration for non-LGBT/HIV groups and organisations can cost upwards of £200. Access to Canal Street and the surrounding area (commonly known as the gay ‘Village’) is restricted over the ‘big weekend’ of 23-26 August, with wristbands to get past the barriers and bouncers costing anything from £10 (day ticket, Monday) to £90 (for a 'Platinum Pass'). When entry to other Pride marches in the UK – like Pride Scotia – is completely free, this is a shocking amount of money.

Manchester Pride Ltd claim that the high entry fee covers administration, as well as their HIV welfare fund and free condom and lube initiatives throughout the city. Unfortunately, earmarking some of the money for community support doesn’t undo the damage caused by excluding the less well-off members of the community from an empowerment march in the first place.

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“The political messages of the past are diluted" – David Henry

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Director of the Queer Youth Network, David Henry – who has worked with young people in the LGBT community in the Manchester area for around 12 years – says he has felt excluded from the main celebrations for financial reasons, commenting: “I was out of work for a year and found it's almost impossible to participate in the mainstream festival on a low income.” He talks of how Pride has changed, saying, “My first Pride was 'Mardi Gras 1999' when I had recently come out. I sat on the Stakeholder Group (a sort of community-consultation group) for Europride 2003 when it was taken over by Marketing Manchester and became more corporate – with barriers being re-introduced around the gay village.” Henry describes the current arrangements as a “hyper-commercial carnival” where large charities dominate the Saturday march and smaller underfunded groups are pushed to the margins. In particular he feels that the LGBT and queer communities aren’t allowed space to express their anger about their continued mistreatment in society. “The political messages of the past are diluted,” he says, “but they’re still relevant today.”

Yet alternatives do exist. There’s still a HIV/AIDS Candlelit Vigil in Sackville Gardens, which is held on the closing night of Pride each year. The Vigil is free and doesn’t require an official Manchester Pride ‘Big Weekend’ wristband. Then there’s Queer Show #4 in the new Penthouse art space in the city's Northern Quarter, featuring film screenings and an exhibition. An open and inclusive event, the Queer Show is also free (though donations are welcome), and on 24 August a jumble auction is being planned for an to-be-confirmed HIV charity. Rosanne Robertson, one of the organisers and co-founder of The Penthouse with Debbie Sharp, explains that this is “to act as a reminder of how people started something [in Manchester] in the first place, and why – for community and charity.”

Continuing the idea of alternative community fundraising (as opposed to the ‘official’ Manchester Pride events), a collection of various clubnight organisers and friends have come together to form Queer Alt Manc. Greg Thorpe, who’s involved in the collective, says: “I don't go to Pride so I'm always glad there's an alternative.” He explains that those involved in Queer Alt Manc all have different personal opinions on Pride, but the events they have planned aim to provide another option besides the Village to members of the LGBT and Queer communities. “Some of us are doing parties over Pride weekend, but it's not just about that,” he says. “We want Manchester to be exciting for queer folk all year round.”

Although the official launch will be after The Skinny goes to print, Thorpe promises a varied programme of parties over the August bank holiday weekend with names like Drunk At Vogue, Bollox, BANG!, Pop Curious? and a four-queer-clubnights-in-one package called Off The Hook vs Black Angel vs Chew Disco vs Akbar.Umm. So, even if you can’t afford to attend the main ‘big weekend’ events in the Village, rest assured that the underground queer scene is putting together its own Pride – and this one has no barriers. Just remember to pop a little bit of change in the tins for charity and remind yourself why we march and dance and protest every summer in the first place. Have pride.