Catch up

Hello! … We are back! Due to computer problems we have not been able to send our regular emails.

We had a trip to Astley Hall in Chorley, held a Pride Party, had a guided tour of the exhibition “Turner: In Light and Shade” at the Whitworth Art Gallery, visited the Helmshore Mills Textile Museum and held a board games afternoon.

There are photos from the Textile Museum here.

Candlelit Vigil

This year’s Vigil at Manchester Pride was extra special, marking 40 years of George House Trust supporting people living with HIV. 

At the Vigil, we heard from two of their founders, as well as many people living with HIV, healthcare professionals and partners. There were Positive Speaker volunteers up on stage, showing the world what living with HIV can look like in 2025, as well as volunteers from other roles, staff and supporters, dancing and celebrating our community.

“It was truly an honour to be part of such a moving evening, representing George House Trust and sharing in the energy of the Vigil. The love and solidarity in the room were deeply felt.” – Jide, Positive Speaker 

The Vigil was an amazing opportunity to raise awareness and tackle HIV stigma, reaching an audience of thousands both at the event and online. Nathaniel Hall, one of their inspiring Positive Speakers, produced the Vigil and the wonderful video shown on the night.

George House Trust raised an incredible £10,914 at the Vigil, an increase of around £3000 on last year’s total. They are so grateful to all the volunteers who raised funds on the night.

For anyone who couldn’t be there, or who just wants to relive a very special night, full coverage of the Vigil is available online here:

Boogie Woogie Bisexual

This ’40s singer had a secret gay past that’s now coming to light.

The Andrews Sisters are the legendary wartime trio instantly identifiable to anyone who’s heard the almost eerily uniform sound of the singing sisters on soundtracks, in documentaries, or in any of the many feature films they appeared in.

The Andrews Sisters weren’t just chart-toppers in their own right – they also collaborated with some of the biggest names in the business, from Frank Sinatra to Bing Crosby to comedy duo Abbott and Costello.

Defined by their insanely close harmonies and jingoistic hits, the three sisters took the world by storm just as America was entering World War II with songs like “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree” and “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön.”

Listen to “The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B”. It’s still a certified bop.

But behind the sisters’ decades-long successes, there was a lot more to the story. All three of the sisters married men, but Maxene (aka “the sister on the left” in most photos) had a much more complicated sexuality than anyone knew at the time.

As explained by historian Amanda W Timpson, Maxene didn’t view herself as a lesbian, but when she fell in love with two women in later life, she started to see that her sexuality was much more fluid than the time openly allowed for.

Maxene initially married a successful music publisher, but after that marriage broke up, she fell in love with her next partner, who happened to be a woman.

As Timpson explains, Maxene assumed this was something of an anomaly, and that she’d fallen in love with the person, not the gender. But when she and her long-term girlfriend broke up, Maxene began dating another woman, Lynda Wells, who was also Maxene’s manager.

The two met, amazingly enough, at a party held by Broadway legend Elaine Stritch in the ’70s, and they stayed together until Maxene’s death. Because gay marriage wasn’t on the table, in order to secure legal rights and be part of each others’ family, Maxene ended up legally adopting Wells later on.

Strange as this method might seem, it wasn’t an uncommon route for lesbian and gay couples to take in the years before marriage equality. The Japanese lesbian novelist Nobuko Yoshiya did the same with her partner Chiyo Monma in the late ’50s, as did civil rights fighter Bayard Rustin and his partner Walter Naegle, along with many adults in the later 20th century.

According to Wells, Maxene’s sexuality didn’t play a part in her life, despite her significant relationships with women. While the couple was out to friends and family, they didn’t see it as important to go public with their relationship, even in the post-Stonewall era. Simply put, they felt their relationship was their business, and nobody else’s.

But when Maxene suffered a heart attack later on, they started to think seriously about the future, leading to discussions of Maxene – who was much older than Wells – adopting her partner. This ended up being a smart move, and when Maxene died in 1995, Lynda was able to retain her legal right to the home and possessions they shared.

We don’t know too much more about the relationship, but Wells, who is still alive today, is at work on a biography of Maxene. Many long term gay partnerships had to hide their love from the world just to survive, and even those that didn’t were subject to strange loopholes just to protect each other in the event of a tragedy. Maxene and Lynda’s story is one of the happier examples of a love affair that found a way to thrive, despite a challenging era for lesbians and gay men.

Bus travel

Last week, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham announced a raft of changes to the Bee Network bus services. 

Pensioners were also set to benefit from the changes. The mayor noted that during August, more than 100,000 journeys were made by disabled and older people before 9.30am.

The end of time restrictions could be made permanent as transport bosses analyse passenger feedback, patronage and pass usage before making a decision.

In the meantime a second trial is set to continue in November.