Manchester Pride Conference

The fourth annual Manchester Pride Conference was held on 22 March 2022 at The Lowry Theatre.

The conference theme was “Greater Manchester, A City to be Proud In: Sustaining Greater Manchester’s Legacy of Pioneering LGBTQ+ Rights”, and was chaired by Stephanie Hirst.

The panel sessions included: “Greater Manchester Activism”; “Tackling Racism Within the LGBTQ+ Community”; and “Working Class and Queer”. Spotlight sessions included Anna Phylactic, Nathaniel Hall and Tolu Ajayi.

Greater Manchester is dedicated to transformation, unity, collaboration, social justice and equality … we do things differently here.

Tony Openshaw introduced himself: “In 1971 I turned 16. I could get married and have sex, so long as it was with someone of the opposite sex.

It wasn’t until I was 37 when the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from the list of mental disorders in 1992.

I was 46 when the age of consent for gay men was equalised to that of heterosexuals in 2001.

I was 59 when I was permitted to marry my same sex partner in 2014.

I’ve been physically attacked on Sackville Street, had eggs thrown at my bedroom window and been evicted from a house, by order of a court, for being gay.

I am now 67 and had no alternative to become an activist.”

Plaza Cinema

The Plaza Super Cinema and Variety Theatre cinema in Stockport, opened in 1932 and is now a Grade II* listed building. After being a bingo hall for many years, it has now been restored as a cinema and theatre, showing classic films and staging live shows. It has been used as a filming location including Life on Mars and Peaky Blinders.

The building is in the art deco style and features a Compton Theatre Organ built with sunburst decorative glass panels. Our visit included a backstage tour, informative talk and refreshments in the period tearoom.

More photos can be seen here.

Cinema Theatre Association

Here are two articles from the Cinema Theatre Association (CTA) – one is John Wilkinson’s obituary and the second is relating to John’s collection which was donated to the CTA.