Manchester Art Gallery

For the first trip of 2024 we visited Manchester Art Gallery for a guided tour.

The tour lasted just one hour but our guide, Lindsay, brought us detailed information and many insights into the building itself and some of the Pre-Raphaelite works of international significance.

Manchester Art Gallery is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupies three connected buildings, two of which were designed by Sir Charles Barry. Both of Barry’s buildings are listed. The building that links them was designed by Hopkins Architects following an architectural design competition. It opened in 2002 following a major renovation and expansion project undertaken by the art gallery.

Lindsay showed us her great knowledge, enthusiasm and passion as we viewed paintings from the Pre-Raphaelite collection. My favourites were “The Scapegoat” and “The Shadow of Death” both by William Holman Hunt.

We also saw the dress collection and learnt that half of Dutch still life paintings feature a lemon!

More photos can be seen here.

Great Places Housing Group has launched a public consultation on its proposals for a plan to create the UK’s first purpose-built and co-produced majority LGBTQ+ Extra Care housing scheme in Whalley Range, south Manchester.

The south Manchester-based housing association with extensive experience of designing, developing, and managing a wide variety of affordable general needs, supported and specialist housing is seeking views from the local community ahead of a planning application submission for the proposed scheme.

The development is planned for the site of the former Spire Hospital in Russell Road, Whalley Range, which was demolished in 2019 and the brownfield site has since remained vacant.

The proposals for the majority Extra Care housing scheme have been developed with the input of the Russell Road Community Steering Group, Manchester City Council and LGBT Foundation. The planned scheme will deliver 80 one- and two-bedroom social rented apartments for older people in a brick building of four to five storeys. The low-carbon scheme will include shared facilities, lounges and treatment rooms and landscaped gardens which will look to ensure an overall net gain of trees on the site.

Extra Care housing developments look to increase the affordable housing opportunities for older people to move into high quality accommodation, with flexible care and support services available to meet changing needs encouraging independent living. The residents will be required to be aged 55 years or over, with the majority of residents being members of the LGBTQ+ community from Manchester. Living alongside allies and other members of the local community, the aim is to provide an open and inclusive, physical and psychological place of safety for the older LGBTQ+ community and a welcome addition to the Whalley range area.

The site will also include a neighbouring separate shared ownership block consisting of around 40 apartments, a mix of 1 and 2 bed apartments, delivering affordable homes to first time buyers and eligible customers, helping to address emerging affordability issues in places such as Whalley Range.

Residents will be able to see the plans and give their views at public consultation meetings at the site on Russell Road on Friday 12 January from 2.00pm to 8.00pm and Saturday 13 January from 12.00 noon to 2.00pm.

Members of the local community will also be able to provide their views online by visiting https://ourvoice.greatplaces.org.uk/russell-road-your-views or by contacting Chris.Baldwin@greatplaces.org.uk by 8 March 2024.

Commenting on the launch of the consultation Helen Spencer, Executive Director of Growth at Great Places, said:

“We are delighted to launch our public consultation for this exciting and innovative project, which aims to create the UK’s first purpose-built and co-produced LGBTQ+ Extra Care housing scheme in Whalley Range.

Russell Road will provide high-quality, affordable, and inclusive homes for older people who identify as LGBT+ or allies, as well as shared ownership opportunities for local residents. We believe this scheme will not only meet the specific needs and aspirations of the LGBT+ community, but also enhance the diversity and vibrancy of Whalley Range as a neighbourhood.

We look forward to hearing the views of the local community and working with our partners, Manchester City Council and LGBT Foundation, to make this vision a reality.”

Cllr Gavin White, Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and development, said:

“This is landmark development for Manchester’s LGBTQ+ community and there has been a lot of interest in this development already. We know there is a gap in the market for affordable housing for older people where care needs are met onsite – and where they can feel accepted and live with dignity.

Critical to this project has been the co-production process with our community steering group that have helped guide the design principles for these homes to ensure they meet the needs of future residents.

Now it’s the time to present the proposals to the wider community – and I’d urge as many people as possible to take a look and give us their thoughts. This feedback really does help ensure developments like this complement and enhance our neighbourhoods.”

Paul Martin, CEO at LGBT Foundation, said:

“LGBT Foundation is proud to have been involved in the development of the LGBT+ majority Extra Care housing scheme in Whalley Range since it was proposed some years ago.
The views of the local community are key to making this development a success and we encourage people to use their voice to help shape the future of this landmark project, to ensure it offers a safe and welcoming home for older LGBT+ people.”

Key LGBT+ anniversaries to remember in 2024

We look ahead to 2024 and the major LGBT+ anniversaries that will take place in the next 12 months.

These include dates marking world-changing firsts, the launch of leading LGBT+ charities, key political moments and the death of an LGBT+ trailblazer.

10^th Anniversary

29 March: Same-sex marriages officially started in England and Wales on this date in 2014, under the 2013 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act.

16-23 September: The first Bisexual Awareness Week, also known as Bi Week, took place in 2014 and is now held every year to celebrate bisexual identities, as well as raising awareness about the stigma bi people continue to face.

16 December: On this date 10 years ago, Scotland caught up with England and Wales, legalising same-sex marriage.

20^th Anniversary

17 May: On this date in 2004, the first legal same-sex marriages in the United States took place in Massachusetts. Marcia Hams and Susan Shepherd were the first gay couple to be given a legal marriage licence in the state, commenting on the 10th anniversary of the day in 2014 that it was “the beginning of that feeling that we could talk naturally about our relationship as heterosexual couples do and really have that mean something to the people that we were talking to”.

30^th Anniversary

April: DIVA, the world’s leading magazine for lesbian and bisexual  women, published its first edition during this month in 1994. It remains an agenda-setting publication which founded Lesbian Visibility Week and has featured cover stars including actors Ellen DeGeneres, Samira Wiley and Sarah Paulson.

May: The first issue of gay men’s magazine Attitude hit the shelves in this month in 1994. Since then, the magazine has featured a host of famous faces on its cover, including Boy George, Madonna, Tony Blair and even Prince William – the first British royal to front a gay publication.

40^th Anniversary

April: In 1984, gay media brand Gay Times was established when its first edition was published, alongside its parent title HIM. During its 40-year history stars such as singer Arlo Parks, Cabaret star Liza Minnelli and Graham Norton have graced the cover.

25 June: On this date in 1984, famed French philosopher Michel Foucault died of an Aids-related illness in Paris. His ideas about knowledge and power, sexuality and subjectivity deeply influenced a number of fields and are still cited today.

November: “Good afternoon, I’m Chris Smith. I’m the Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury and I’m gay.” Now Baron Smith of Finsbury, speaking at a rally in Rugby, Warwickshire, after the Tory town council had U-turned on a policy which outlawed employment discrimination on the grounds of sexuality, he became the first openly gay male British member of parliament. He went on to be the first gay Cabinet minister in political history – a post now called culture secretary – and, shortly before standing down at the 2005 general election, the first MP to reveal he was HIV-positive.

50^th Anniversary

4 March: In 1974, LGBT+ Switchboard opened its lines for the first time. During the course of its 50 years, the charity has supported people with coming out, finding gay bars, seeking health support, how to report hate crimes and anything and everything in between.

2 April: Kathy Kozachenko made history by becoming the first openly gay person to successfully run for office when she was elected to the Ann Arbor City Council in Michigan. Just 21 at the time, she ran on Human Rights Party ticket, winning her seat by 52 votes. Speaking to NBC News in 2020, she said not a “lot of people know about me” because they often attribute the title of first out elected official to Harvey Milk.

100^th Anniversary

24 December: In 1924, the state of Illinois granted the charter for a non-profit organisation called the Society for Human Rights, making it the first gay rights organisation in the United States. A few months after its foundation, the group folded after its members were arrested. Despite the short lifespan, it was a precursor to the gay rights movement to come.

105^th Anniversary

6 July: It’s 105 years since Magnus Hirschfield purchased a Berlin villa in 1919 and opened the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft (the Institute for Sexual Research). Hirschfeld’s study of sexual intermediaries was no trend or fad; instead it was a recognition that people may be born with a nature contrary to their assigned gender. And in cases where the desire to live as the opposite sex was strong, he thought science ought to provide a means of transition. By 1930 it would perform the first modern gender-affirmation surgeries in the world.

How we met after 60: ‘He is the first person in my life who has really taken care of me’

Sterling, 83, and Berkeley, 76, met at a support group for gay men in 2012. After realising they had a lot in common they fell ‘head over heels’ and now live together in Talent, Oregon.

After losing his job as a classical music buyer in 2008, Sterling struggled to get back on track. Four years later, he found himself homeless and staying with a friend in San Francisco. Unable to get a full-time job, he worked at a small Buddhist bookshop, where he was paid a weekly stipend.

“I’d turned to Buddhism in my early 60s to help me clear some emotional challenges I’d struggled with in the past,” he says. “By 2012, I had also started writing and was working on a fantasy novel. While searching for writers’ groups, I spotted a support group for gay men. I had no expectations but I thought I’d give it a shot.”

As soon as he walked in, he spotted Berkeley. “He was very attractive. A little voice in my head said: ‘You could do worse than that.’” Over the course of the meeting, Sterling discovered that Berkeley usually dated younger men. “I assumed I was too old and dismissed any possibility that something could happen.”

But Berkeley, who had volunteered to manage the group, was immediately taken with Sterling. “My former partner had died, and I was living alone after moving from Hawaii to California,” he says. “As soon as I met Sterling, I got a very strong, energetic hit from him.”

After two meetings, Berkeley invited Sterling out for coffee, much to Sterling’s surprise. “We had a tremendously good time,” says Berkeley. “Both of us have had the experience of scaring people off, because we have strong personalities and are not afraid to express an opinion. But these qualities made us more attractive to each other and meant we had a shared understanding.”

Their first date lasted six hours and Berkeley was amazed by how much they had in common. “We had both lost work in the financial crisis and we’d both had very difficult upbringings, which we had worked through in therapy,” he says. “We also both realised we were gay in the 1960s, which wasn’t easy. It was a time where everyone was free and hippy, unless you were gay or a woman. I never even told my parents.”

After their coffee date, they began going out for regular lunches and dinners. A month later, Sterling admits he was “head over heels”. They moved into Berkeley’s apartment, which they say was the “ultimate test”. “I remember we built some furniture. Usually it’s like an ego contest between two men but we worked together, smooth as silk,” says Sterling.

When rents began to rise rapidly in San Francisco in 2014, they moved to Talent in southern Oregon, where they were able to buy a home together. “We qualified for a mortgage programme as we are both military veterans,” says Berkeley. “It meant we didn’t need a down payment and we were able to retire on our pensions.”

Due to their status as veterans they were also entitled to health coverage, which saved Sterling’s life in 2020. “I caught a rare virus from gardening in October of that year and it wreaked havoc on my immune system,” he says. “I was very unwell and had to have a pacemaker put in. I couldn’t imagine being better cared for while that was happening. Berkeley is the first person in my life who has really taken care of me; I’d never experienced anything like that before.”

Berkeley loves the way they communicate as a couple. “Whenever we have a bump, we just take time out so nothing ever builds up,” he says. “Sterling is also really fun and very artistic.”

Sterling appreciates his partner’s kindness. “Berkeley is naturally compassionate, warm and giving. I have never seen him be mean or cruel to anyone,” he says. “Before we met, I felt like I had made a lot of bad decisions and I had spent time repairing emotional damage from my past. When Berkeley came on the scene, I felt ready to love and I feel lucky to have met him.”