Nell’s Pizza & Queer Lit

We met at the corner of Oldham Street and Piccadilly before taking the short walk to Nell’s Pizza in the Northern Quarter.

There had been a lot of time spent on pre-booking and most of us enjoyed our 14 inch pizzas – “Cheese & Onion Pie”, “Do You ‘Roni Honey”, “Funghi Jambon”, “Hawaiian”, “Marinara Plus”, “Original Sausage Material”, “‘Shroom with a View” and “Whimsy”. There was a special offer and the prices were reduced by about a fiver to £7.77 and £9.99.

Following the meal we walked over to Queer Lit’s new premises at 27 Great Ancoats Street.   

While many small businesses in the UK have sadly closed due to the poor economic climate, Queer Lit has bucked the trend and rapidly expanded. After starting as an online-only business during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Queer Lit opened a small bookstore on Tib Street in central Manchester in 2021.

Customers often crowded this small store, meaning Queer Lit had to expand. In October 2023, they finally opened their new, expanded venue close to the old premises.

Location-wise, the new venue is easy to find in a prime location on Great Ancoats Street, part of the ring road around the city centre. I was very impressed with the amount of space inside. The unique combination of black, green and orange all come together to create a lovely atmosphere, especially when combined with the lights. There are also LGBT+ themed pictures on the walls – mostly of same-gender couples.

There is a bar, café and bookstore section, which is located towards the back of the café. Various LGBT+ books are stacked up nicely for a wide range of genres and identities, from queer young adult fiction to autobiographies, right the way through to non-LGBT themed books, written by other LGBT+ creatives. There is also a lot of LGBT+ pride merchandise available. They include badges, coasters and pride flags. It’s lovely browsing this vastly expanded selection, especially with more space to browse.

It’s well worth a visit and highly recommended as a place to relax.

The Old Gays are an open book when it comes to their “Guide To The Good Life”

If you know The Old Gays, you know they’re not exactly shy.

The original quartet – Jessay Martin (70), Robert Reeves (80), Bill Lyons (79) and Mick Peterson (67) – have been making videos together since 2018, sharing their hot takes and shaking their hot cakes, gaining a massive following of adoring fans on social media in the process.

But there’s still a lot about them you don’t know – which shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, considering they’ve got 296 years of life experience between them.

So, with that in mind, the four of them finally set out to tell their story, sharing some wisdom and spilling more than a little tea along the way. “The Old Gays’ Guide To The Good Life” is part memoir, part juicy tell-all and all love.

Some of the biggest secrets revealed in the book are their philosophy on sleeping with friends and the life lessons they’ve learned from each other. The book dishes out endless life lessons, but, if pushed, what single, standout piece of advice would they share? “Be passionate about everything you do,” offers Bill. Robert is next: “Take the time to understand who you are, not who other people tell you to be.” Mick usually tells people to floss, “and also do your very best. Don’t hold anything back.”

Before Jessay answers, he takes a breath, then smiles. “Be free,” he says, “I didn’t know how to be until the Old Gays. I was trying to please everyone all the time, not taking care of me. All of this? It’s taught me to love and respect myself. To be exactly who I am and to enjoy every second. Trust me, don’t wait until you’re our age to do the same.”

The Old Gays Guide to the Good Life, published by William Collins, out 23 November (£16.99).

World Aids Day

Join us on Friday 1 December 2023 at 6.00pm in Sackville Gardens, Manchester for a special World AIDS Day Vigil.

Let’s remember people lost to HIV, show our solidarity with people living with HIV around the world and commit ourselves to ending HIV stigma and discrimination. 

World AIDS Day, held annually on 1 December since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV, and mourning those we have lost.

Around 105,200 people in the UK are currently living with HIV – around 6,000 of whom live in Greater Manchester. We are a ‘Fast Track City’ region committed to ending all new transmissions of HIV by 2030.

Thank you to Manchester City Council for supporting the PaSH Partnership 2023 World AIDS Day Vigil. 

You can support the PaSH Partnership’s HIV support and prevention work with a donation by texting WAD to 70450 to donate £3.00.

Watch the video to learn about the history of HIV in the UK.