Bolton Parish Church

Our visit this week was to St Peter’s Church, Bolton-le-Moors which is more commonly known as the Bolton Parish Church.

We were greeted by our hosts – Evelyn (Churchwarden), Hannah (Vicar) and Linda (Tower guide), who made us feel very welcome.

The church is an example of the Gothic Revival style, and although its resplendent hall is magnificent, one of its greatest facets is its tower – standing at 182 feet high. It is the tallest in the historic county of Lancashire. Some of us felt fit enough to climb the 193 tight spiral steps to reach the lofty vantage point of the tower roof. I just hope we don’t regret it in the morning! Before you reach the roof there is a ringing room and a belfry. The roof offers commanding views over Bolton and you can even see Manchester.

The population of Bolton expanded rapidly during the Industrial Revolution and the previous 15^th century church was demolished and replaced by the present church costing £47,000 (equivalent to about £7 million today). Evelyn talked about the historical, educational and architectural aspects of the building which along with Churchgate represented the old town centre of Bolton.

Samuel Crompton is buried in the church grounds. He built on the work of James Hargreaves and Richard Arkwright and invented the spinning mule, a machine that revolutionised the spinning industry worldwide.

We walked past Ye Old Man & Scythe, the fourth oldest pub in the UK, dating back to 1251. In times gone by there were several theatres along the street including “The Grand” and the “Theatre Royal”. However, the prosperous facade was only skin deep and behind the main street was a maze of squalid courtyards and alleyways where the inhabitants often shared the accommodation with the family pig!

More photos can be seen here.

LGBT+ Hungarians Fight Back

The prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, has passed an anti-LGBT+ law banning Pride Marches in the European country – and was met by photos of him kissing Putin and colourful smoke bombs.

The law proposes fines of up to 200,000 forints (£420) for organisers of Budapest Pride, and anyone attending, claiming the event could be considered harmful to children.

In a statement Budapest Pride said: “This is not child protection, this is fascism. The Hungarian government is trying to restrict peaceful protests with a critical voice by targeting a minority. Therefore, as a movement, we will fight for the freedom of all Hungarians to protest!

Hungarians are a freedom-loving nation. We know that if the government tries to ban protests with critical voices, they will face resistance from the whole of society. That is why we need a scapegoat, a distraction, another wave of hatred … they lie to their voters about a child protection measure, but there is no child protection in this bill.”

Hungary’s Pride ban mocked with ‘Grey Pride’ march

Members of the LGBT+ community gathered in Hungary’s capital Budapest to mock the right-wing government’s recently passed law banning LGBT+ Pride marches.

For weeks, protesters have staged demonstrations in Budapest against the legislation, with thousands of queer folks and allies flooding the streets with signs and flags.

In previous years, more than 30,000 LGBT+ people and allies have marched in Budapest Pride.

On Saturday, 12 April, protesters took a different tack: rather than protesting with rainbow Pride colours, they went grey for a tongue-in-cheek jibe at the anti-LGBT+ law.

At the rally – organised by the parody political party the Two-tailed Dog Party – demonstrators waved flags that were monochrome and held ironic signs with satirical slogans such as “sameness is trendy”.

Although homosexuality is legal in Hungary and discrimination based on sexuality and gender is against the law, marriage is defined as between a man and a woman and LGBT+ couples cannot adopt children.

In recent years, Orbán’s right-wing government has cracked down on the LGBT+ community with legislation that has included banning discussion of LGBT+ people in schools and in the media.

In response, the EU launched legal action against Hungary over the law and froze funding due to concerns over LGBT+ rights, the asylum system, academic freedoms and more – with the EU stipulating a total of 17 conditions for the central European nation to meet before money is granted. 

But at the beginning of 2024, Orbán – who has been prime minister of Hungary since 2010 – doubled down on his anti-LGBT+ rhetoric, saying “no money in the world” would make him accept what he called ‘LGBTQ+ propaganda’.

“There is not enough money in the world to force us to let migrants in, and there is not enough money in the world for which we would put our children or grandchildren in the hands of LGBTQ+ activists,” he said in a video posted to Twitter/X. 

Reenactment of 1965 Gay Rights Protest Set for 17 April at White House

Among those expected to participate in the 17 April White House reenactment picketing is longtime LGBTQ rights advocate Paul Kuntzler, who is shown here participating in a similar reenactment event in front of the White House one year ago.

The Rainbow History Project is inviting members of the local LGBT+ community and its supporters to participate in a reenactment of the historic 1965 first gay rights protest outside the White House.

The event is scheduled to begin on Thursday, 17 April at 4.00pm on the pavement in front of the White House.

In a statement, Rainbow History Project says the 1965 protest was organised by local gay rights pioneers Frank Kameny and Lilli Vincenz on behalf of the Mattachine Society of Washington, one of DC’s first gay rights groups that Kameny co-founded in the early 1960s.

The statement says: “Led by Dr Kameny and Dr Vincenz, picketers demanded action on the Mattachine Society’s four major issues: the exclusion of homosexuals from Federal employment; the punitive policies of the US Military; blanket denial of security clearances to gay people; and government refusal to meet with the LGBTQ community.  

Although Dr Kameny died in 2011, and Dr Vincenz in 2023, Rainbow History Project and its all-volunteer corps will picket in their honour and demonstrate there is a new generation of young activists ready to take up their signs and their fight for equal rights for all LGBTQ people.”

Among those expected to participate in the reenactment picketing is longtime LGBTQ rights advocate Paul Kuntzler, who is the last known survivor of the 1965 White House gay rights protest. Kuntzler was expected to carry a picket sign similar to the one he carried in 1965.

In its research on the 1965 gay White House protest, Rainbow History Project learned of a letter that Kameny sent to then President Lyndon B Johnson outlining the demands of the White House protesters.

“We ask, Mr President, for what all American citizens – singly and collectively – have the right to ask, that our problems be given fair, unbiased consideration … consideration in which we, ourselves, are allowed to participate actively and are invited to do so.”

The Rainbow History Project statement says the group “will carry replicas of the original protest signs and hand out literature explaining the picket to passersby and tourists.”

Dame Kelly Holmes

Kelly Holmes (born 19 April 1970) is a retired British middle distance  athlete and television personality.

Holmes specialised in the 800 metres and 1,500 metres events and won gold medals for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She set British records in numerous events and still holds the records over the 600, and 1,000 metre distances. She held the British 800 metre record until 2021.

In June 2022, Holmes came out as gay in an interview with the Sunday Mirror, adding that she felt “finally free”. She said that she had known she was a lesbian since 1988, when she was in the army; she could not come out then as it was illegal at the time to be gay in the military. After winning two Olympic gold medals at Athens in 2004 and becoming a public figure, she feared there may still be consequences from the army if she came out after leaving, and that she may be shunned within athletics as there were no openly gay sportspeople she knew of.

LGBT campaigners celebrated Holmes coming out, saying that it sheds light on the historic homophobia that can still serve as a barrier to older people coming out.

Later that month, on 26 June, ITV broadcast a 55-minute documentary Kelly Holmes: Being Me in which she describes her fears of her sexuality being exposed, and meets two people who were discharged from the military for being gay. Holmes wrote: “The documentary taught me so much about generational and social advancements when it comes to the LGBTQ+ world.”

Previously, on 18 March 2019, Holmes, along with Paula Radcliffe and Sharron Davies, announced they would be writing a letter to the International Olympic Committee targeting trans women who compete in women’s sports categories.

On January 2023, Holmes spoke again on the subject of transgender individuals’ inclusion in sports stating she had “been ignorant”, and believes that transgender individuals should receive fair outcomes in all areas of life, including sports. “As a former international athlete, a gay women and now openly a member of the LGBTQIA community, I want to firstly say I totally support my trans siblings.”