Liverpool – Minton Tile Reveal

The Minton Tiled floor of the Great Hall in St George’s Hall, Liverpool is an encaustic tiled floor of more than 30,000 handcrafted tiles.

Usually protected beneath a wooden covering to preserve its intricate craftsmanship, the Minton floor is one of the finest examples of Victorian design in the world.

Comprising 30,000 hand crafted tiles, the mosaic has captivated hundreds of thousands of people over the decades, with its rich colours, classical motifs and remarkable level of preservation.

More photos can be seen here.

Pride Pioneers

Pride Pioneers of Our Past, Present and Future is a celebration of queer history, local LGBTQ+ voices and hopes for the future – featuring art, performances, activist talks and community connection.

It features an exhibition at Liverpool Central Library, which we visited following the Minton Tile Reveal. It’s well worth a visit.

Exhibition dates: 16 July – 31 July 2026

Location: Liverpool Central Library, William Brown Street, Liverpool L3 8EW

Dragged to the Movies

Narcissa Nightshade as Mrs Doubtfire

Liquorice Black as The Bride from Bride of Frankenstein

Divina DeCampo as Hedwig Robinson from Hedwig and the Angry Inch

The Dragged to the Movies photography exhibition is currently showing in the Kampus Gardens.

This free, open-air exhibit celebrates Manchester’s ‘Scene’ LGBTQ+ film festival by showcasing local drag performers transforming into iconic pop-culture characters captured by photographer Fake Trash.

Location: The Kampus Gardens, Aytoun Street, Manchester, M1 3GL

Cost: Free

Venue Hours: The Kampus estate is generally accessible daily, but the best time to view the outdoor gardens is between 8.00am and 10.00pm.

SCENE Festival 2026

Thursday, 20 – 27 August – Scene 2026 – Manchester’s LGBTQ+ Film & TV Festival

7 days of Film, TV, Shorts, Documentaries, Panels, Events, Old Classics and New Narratives.

Join Russell T Davies & Nicola Shindler for a special screening of Tip Toe and the 5th anniversary of It’s A Sin. Go behind the scenes of Disney+’s Rivals with Gary Lamont, Hubert Burton and executive producer Alexander Lamb. In conversation with Alice Oseman, creator of Heartstopper. Celebrate I Kissed A Boy & I Kissed A Girl with host Charley Marlowe and stars from both series. Channel 4’s An Altogether Different Comedy Night returns with a stellar line-up of bold, brilliant comedians. Exclusive preview screenings including Bitter Christmas, Maddie’s Secret, Blue Film Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, I Want Your Sex, Chatlines and drag comedy Special drag screening of Stop! That! Train! Documentaries, shorts & special programmes celebrating Patrick Wolf, Barbara Hammer and NOFX, plus the Iris Prize Best British Shorts announcement, SCENE’s Northern Shorts programme, and guest-curated strands from TITE, Aks and GASP! Festivals. Plus dozens more screenings, panels, parties, exhibitions and free events across Manchester throughout the festival. Tickets from just £5 – and lots of events are FREE! See the Full Programme and Book your tickets now!

Gay 1920s-era Hollywood Star to be Honoured

A project is underway in Staunton, Virginia, to honour William ‘Billy’ Haines, who was born and raised in Staunton before becoming an out gay 1920s and early 1930s-era Hollywood movie star. His acting career ended around 1934 when he refused demands that he conceal his sexual orientation and end his relationship with his male partner.

Haines left the movie business around that time to start what became a highly successful interior design and furniture business in Los Angeles that he led until his death in 1972 at age 72, and which remains in business today.

Arcadia Project announced it is working to revitalise a long-vacant movie theatre in downtown Staunton that it plans to rename after Haines. It says a fundraising campaign is under way to support efforts to reopen the theatre and the larger building in which it is housed as a dynamic mixed-use cultural centre.

Haines left Staunton at age 14 and resided in Hopewell, Virginia, and Greenwich Village in New York City until 1922, when he was “discovered” by a talent scout and sent to Hollywood.

Between 1922 and 1934, Haines appeared in 54 movies during his meteoric and highly successful career. He transitioned from silent movies to talkies and was fully open about being gay. But when Hollywood’s moral crackdown of the 1930s demanded that he end his relationship with his longtime partner Jimmie Shields, Haines refused.

For LGBT+ people – then and now – Haines’s choice resonates deeply. Rather than deny who he was, he reinvented himself as an interior designer to the stars.

He helped invent the Hollywood Regency style home and designed homes for Hollywood legends such as Joan Crawford, Gloria Swanson, Carole Lombard, George Cukor and Jack Warner as well as for political figures like Ronald Reagan when he was governor of California.

There is no monument, marker or public recognition for Haines in his hometown of Staunton.

Arcadia Project Executive Director, Pamela Mason Wagner, said: “Naming the movie theatre in Haines’ honour is more than an act of historical recognition – it is a powerful statement about visibility, belonging and whose stories are valued in our community.”