Staircase House

By Angel Utset

Today we visited the “Staircase House” in Stockport, Greater Manchester. Built in 1459, it’s the oldest existing building in Stockport, right in the centre of the town. The house is famous for its rare Jacobean cage newel staircase, one of only three in the UK.

The “Staircase House” was wood and much of the original construction is lost. Excellently preserved, however, many of the updates were made in the 17th century, when the Shallcross family moved into the house. The biggest attraction is its box-shaped staircase, uncommon in those years. The original staircase was lost in a fire, but was rebuilt.

The house is now a museum, recreating Stockport life in the 17th century. Enter through the courtyard, where you can see part of the original construction and renovations done over the centuries. The house was inhabited until the mid-20th century.

Move from the courtyard to the basement, where crops and animals were kept. Although it is now in the centre of the town, in those years the house was surrounded by fields. It was situated in front of the market, making life easier for the Shallcross family. The basic diet was meat, milk and bread, which were processed in the house itself. Fruits and products from the home garden were also consumed. Stockport in particular was famous in the 17th century for its cheese.

On the upper floors are the kitchen and bedrooms. The glazed windows, originally made of wood, were installed in later centuries. In addition to meat, milk and products from the garden, spices, salt and sugar were obtained in the market.

Something very interesting about the museum is an original wall of the house, which shows the different constructive elements from its origins in the 15th century. Also the “Linen Room”. The British dressed in thick fabrics of cotton and wool, until silk and other fine fabrics were introduced from Italy and especially from India. Fine thread, silk and spices were the most important commodities of the “Company of India”, with headquarters in Kolkata and Mumbai. They started using fine fabrics with vivid colours, which was the precursor to the Industrial Revolution.

A very interesting and instructive visit.

We also went to visit Stockport Museum next door. More photos can be seen here.

New bill would send people to prison for 10 years for identifying as LGBTQ+ in Uganda

Not content with holding title to one of the harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the world, Uganda’s parliament is considering a bill that would outlaw identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer.

The country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, passed in 2023, already provides a sentence of life in prison for gay men who have sexual relations, and in extenuating circumstances, even death.

The new measure would criminalise Ugandans for simply saying they’re anything but straight.

Among more than 30 African nations that ban same-sex relations, the proposed law would be the first to criminalise just identifying as LGBTQ+, according to Human Rights Watch.

The proposed law was introduced with the goal of combating “threats to the traditional, heterosexual family”. 

The measure mandates punishment of up to 10 years in prison for any person who “holds out as a lesbian, gay, transgender, a queer or any other sexual or gender identity that is contrary to the binary categories of male and female.”

The bill also criminalises the “promotion” of homosexuality and “abetting” and “conspiring” to engage in same-sex relations.

Much of the bill’s content is revived from the original “Kill the Gays” law, passed in 2013 but overturned by Uganda’s high court on technical grounds. That law criminalised lesbianism.

“One of the most extreme features of this new bill is that it criminalises people simply for being who they are as well as further infringing on the rights to privacy, and freedoms of expression and association that are already compromised in Uganda,” said Oryem Nyeko, Uganda researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Speaker of the Parliament Anita Among, the rabidly homophobic lawmaker who helped usher the Anti-Homosexuality Act into law, sent the new bill to committee for debate and public hearings after it was read to legislators.  

Among urged fellow lawmakers to reject intimidation, referencing threats by Western countries to impose travel bans on those responsible for the legislation.

“This business of intimidating that ‘you will not go to America,’ what is America?” she asked.

Ugandan lawmakers, the speaker prominent among them, have for years warned of “degenerate Western values” threatening Ugandan families and sovereignty.

Among was urged on in her anti-Western pose by Russia’s ambassador to Uganda, who encouraged her to fast-track the “Kill the Gays” law through parliament in 2023. It passed overwhelmingly and was cheered by lawmakers.

“This is the time you are going to show us whether you’re a homo or you’re not,” Among told the packed chamber.

Manchester United fan gets 3-year ban after online homophobic post about Chelsea

A Manchester United fan has been told he is being suspended from the club’s games for three years after using homophobic language online.

The man has been handed what is likely to be the toughest punishment yet imposed by a professional football team on one of its own supporters for use of the “rent boy” slur on social media.

Two days before United hosted Chelsea in the Premier League in September, the 20-time champions issued an unequivocal statement about discriminatory chanting.

Fans were warned that the “rent boy” chant is considered discriminatory by the Football Association and the police.

The statement continued: “As such, supporters who engage in this behaviour risk serious consequences, including ejection from the stadium, banning orders, and potential criminal charges.

Within the club’s Official Club Sanctioning Document, this behaviour is identified as a Level 4(c) Offence and carries a three-year suspension.”

Six weeks later, the club’s clampdown has been shown to be in full effect after a supporter shared an image on X of a letter sent to him by the club.

The letter said: “It has recently come to our attention that you may have breached our official terms and conditions.

Specifically, we understand that you have used homophobic written communication online towards Chelsea and their supporters.

This offence contravenes ground regulations … For a first offence, this carries a three-year suspension (home and away).”

Level 4(c) offences are listed by United as being “racist, homophobic or discriminatory language / behaviour.”

The fan had “also joked that officials had tried to throw him out at a recent game after he referred to United full-back Diogo Dalot as “a gay ****”.

United’s statement from September also included an embed of a video produced by the anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out featuring out gay athletes Zander Murray and Jake Williamson, explaining the history and impact of the “rent boy” chant.

Rainbow Devils, which is United’s official supporters group for LGBT+ people and allies, previously issued its own statement about the chant, warning their fellow fans about the potential consequences of using the discriminatory term.

The group added: “We want to use education to hopefully avoid any of our fans being punished and to do our best to eradicate this outdated chant.”

Manchester United has zero tolerance of discriminatory language or behaviour of any kind.

The Premier League is due to launch a new initiative in February which is the UK’s LGBT+ History Month as well as the Month of Action for Football v Homophobia.

Birthday

Phyllis Ann Lyon (10 November 1924 – 9 April 2020) and Dorothy Louise Taliaferro “Del” Martin (5 May 1921 – 27 August 2008) were an American lesbian couple based in San Francisco who were known as feminist and gay rights activists. Lyon and Martin met in 1950, became lovers in 1952, and moved in together on Valentine’s Day 1953 in an apartment on Castro Street in San Francisco.

They had been together for three years when they cofounded the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) in 1955. This became the first social and political organisation for lesbians in the United States and soon had a national reach.