Saltaire

Saltaire is a remarkably preserved Victorian industrial village in West Yorkshire, not far from Bradford, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We travelled from Manchester to Leeds and then changed trains to Saltaire. We had booked a table at The Boathouse Inn, before visiting Salts Mill.

Salts Mill operated from 1853 until 1986 and gave employment to thousands of workers. The mill was converted into a multifunctional location with shops, places to eat and wonderful architecture. The main mill building features several large rooms given over to the works of the Bradford-born artist David Hockney.

The village of Saltaire was founded in 1851 by Sir Titus Salt on the river Aire. It was designed as a model community to provide high-quality housing and amenities for textile workers, featuring the massive Salts Mill and, notably for the time, no public houses. 

More photos can be seen here.

The evolution of LGBT+ media worldwide

For most of modern history, LGBT+ people have been either ignored by the mainstream press or portrayed through the lens of scandal, pathology and crime – enduring erasure and inaccurate depictions which created lasting stereotypes and stigmas that continue to impact the LGBT+ community.

In response, LGBT+ people learned to build their own media systems – with newsletters and pamphlets, then magazines and newspapers and now digital outlets that document real lives, challenge problematic narratives and fight for visibility.

Long before the acronym LGBT+ existed, pamphlets printed by and for LGBT+ people emerged as avenues for discreet communication and information sharing in Germany – a major hub for queer research in the mid-19th and early 20th centuries.

Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, who published booklets containing essays and ponderings about gay and bisexual love as well as gender variance in the 1860s, published Uranus, a more formal journal focused on the early queer rights movement – aimed at legalising gay relationships and challenging misinformation about LGBT+ experiences. He planned for the journal, which is named after a vintage term for gay men, to be a periodical but never published a second issue.

Another German, Adolf Brand, published Der Eigene, which ran from 1886 to 1932. The journal – which was estimated to reach about 1500 subscribers per issue – featured cultural, artistic and political commentary as well as poetry, fiction and photography. It existed quietly through a private readership until it was shut down by the Nazi regime.

Other writing from Germany and Europe – including various LGBT+ publications of scholarly and social intent – found great success but met a similar fate when fascists rose to power. This includes what is likely the world’s first lesbian magazine, Die Freundin, which published short stories and novellas, created buzz about nightlife hotspots and hosted discussions, readings and performances.

In the United States, postal laws and obscenity statutes imposed limitations for publishing.

Henry Gerber and the Society for Human Rights in Chicago borrowed the name of their publication, Friendship and Freedom, from another German publication. Friendship and Freedom, the first known American newsletter about gay topics, published just two issues in 1924 before police forced the operation to shut down.

The LGBT+ media landscape remained shrouded for the next few decades, with very few efforts to create and circulate publications surviving for today’s archives. But that changed with an explosion of resources during the mid-20th century.

The first known American periodical published specifically for lesbians was founded by Lisa Ben in 1947. Vice Versa produced nine issues but had a tiny following due to limited printing. It’s one of countless zines often circulated within individual communities.

In the early 1950s, a fitness and muscle magazine, Physique Pictorial, often avoided language that explicitly outed itself, but was developed for a gay male audience by Bob Mizer, a photographer who featured semi-nude portraits in the periodical with editorials about political topics and censorship.

At the same time, explicitly gay and lesbian magazines emerged. ONE Magazine – founded in 1953 by members of the Mattachine Society – became the first nationally distributed LGBT+ publication in the United States. Its creators won a landmark obscenity case in 1958, and the Supreme Court victory set a new precedent for LGBT+ media.

The Ladder, launched in 1956 by the Daughters of Bilitis, focused on sapphics. It initially had a conservative tone and emphasised respectability politics until editor Barbara Gittings pushed the content into feminist territory in the mid-60s. DRUM, a magazine launched by the Janus Society in 1964, centred on ideas of sexual liberation – a contrast to The Ladder.

Trans community members also created media hubs. Transvestic, founded in 1960 by Virginia Prince, is believed to be the first widely distributed resource for gender nonconforming people – but it quickly became one of many. Turnabout, He-She and New Trenns magazines catered specifically to trans and gender nonconforming audiences in the 1960s – and many thrived for decades. They not only raised visibility but helped trans and gender-nonconforming people find affirming places to shop, access health care and find emotional support.

The 1969 Stonewall uprising marked a turning point not only for activism but for LGBT+ journalism. Queer news outlets proliferated across cities and college campuses, often featuring activist-driven and locally focused content.

The Advocate – which evolved from a small, Los Angeles-focused newsletter that launched in 1967, shifted its focus to cover national protests, police harassment, culture and internal debates within the LGBT+ rights movement by 1968. It solidified its identity as a national magazine when it dropped “Los Angeles” from the name in 1970 and is now the oldest, continuously publishing LGBT+ news source in the United States. It is also the only surviving publication to have launched before the Stonewall rebellion.

The Washington Blade – previously The Gay Blade – was born as a community newsletter in 1969, four months after Stonewall. The Bay Area Reporter came to life in 1971. Philadelphia Gay News launched in 1976. All three still serve their local LGBT+ communities.

Since Stonewall a core principle of LGBT+ media was about telling stories ignored or distorted by mainstream outlets. These papers broke critical stories, including early reporting on HIV/AIDS and in-depth investigative pieces.

Celebrity profiles and lifestyle coverage took hold in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s with monthly glossies. BLK became the first widely-circulated publication for the Black LGBT+ community in 1988. It closed in 1994. Curve came onto the scene (as Deneuve) in 1990, covering sapphic culture. Out – known for its Out 100, a list of influential and inspiring openly LGBT+ leaders – has shared the list since its inception in 1992.

By the end of the decade, mainstream media began to cover stories about lesbian and gay people but tended to focus on more “palatable” presentations of LGBT+ life or focused on the community’s biggest tragedies. LGBT+ publications continued to push boundaries – ensuring that radical voices and marginalised perspectives were not erased, even if more commercial spaces weren’t amplifying them.

The digital market shifted approaches in the early and mid-2000s, with various online entertainment and lifestyle brands that still exist today emerging during this time. The digital world also made publishing news more accessible.

Today, independent websites are often the first place LGBT+ people turn to for up-to-date information because it’s produced by and for their own communities. 

LGBT+ journalism still finds its way to the people who need it – often because followers help to amplify its reach. It’s powered by audiences who understand what’s at stake and actively help stories travel farther than platforms might allow on their own. Through reposts, screenshots, group chats, newsletters and old-fashioned word-of-mouth, followers become an informal distribution system – ensuring vital reporting circulates even when visibility is restricted.

Lesbian Visibility Day

Lesbian Visibility Day is celebrated annually on 26 April to recognise, celebrate and elevate lesbian-identified members of the LGBT+ community, particularly highlighting those from marginalised backgrounds.

It is part of a broader Lesbian Visibility Week that combats the erasure of lesbian women, promotes solidarity and challenges misogyny and homophobia. 

I kissed Anna Friel in Brookside’s first lesbian kiss

One of the actresses involved in British television’s first pre-watershed lesbian kiss has shared her experience of being part of such a significant cultural milestone decades on.

The Liverpool soap opera Brookside was a beloved drama which graced our screens from 1982 until 2003. Throughout its run, the programme broke new ground and sought to portray an authentic representation of ordinary people’s lives.

One groundbreaking moment created history when the show broadcast the first televised lesbian kiss before the watershed, featuring characters Beth Jordache and Margaret Clemence.

Nicola Stephenson, the actress portraying Margaret, has since reflected on what this landmark scene meant to her and her co-star when the episode transmitted in 1994.

During that period, Section 28 remained in full effect throughout schools, and LGBT+ representation was scarce on television – Stephenson, however, existed firmly within that community.

She said in an article for The Guardian: “But in my world, as a 22-year-old actor, surrounded by gay people at work and often dancing in Manchester’s gay clubs at the weekends, I lived in a totally free and accepting bubble.”

The response this scene generated proved extraordinary, with the performers receiving an avalanche of correspondence and messages from viewers.

“The letters poured in, many from young people who felt seen and validated for the first time.” she shared. “People identified with Beth and Margaret. It was overwhelming and extremely rewarding. People still regularly approach me to thank me for that moment.”

Stephenson recounted a moving story about how, decades on, this remains a defining moment in her career that continues to astound her.

She met a woman waiting at the stage door while performing in the West End, who chose to share her personal experience with the actress.

The stranger explained she’d grown up in a rural village and had struggled to accept being gay, but witnessing the storyline unfold on television gave her the courage to come out. “It changed my life,” she told Stephenson.

Such encounters happen frequently for the actress, all stemming from something she did aged 22, and now at 54, it remains part of her enduring legacy.

Despite taking on countless other roles since, most notably Allie Westbrook in Waterloo Road and Tess Harris in Emmerdale, it’s this particular moment that continues to resonate.

Indeed, while the landmark TV moment happened in 1994, it took centre stage 18 years later when it featured in the London 2012 Olympic ceremony, directed by Danny Boyle.

That ceremony was broadcast, unedited, to 76 countries where homosexuality at the time remained criminalised. This meant the lesbian kiss shown during the ceremony became the first ever homosexual kiss to be televised in any of these nations.

Looking back on the moment, Stephenson wrote: “I remain blown away to this day by the impact this one short scene had.”

LGBT Salford RAF veteran dismissed for sexuality receives apology

 Stewart Russell is one of thousands of service personnel found to be subjected to intrusive investigations, harassment, dismissal and the loss of careers, pensions and honours due to their LGBT sexual orientation between 1967 and 2000.

Stewart attended a presentation at Parliament and received a special Etherton Veterans Ribbon, which was introduced by the late Lord Etherton for those impacted by the ban on openly gay personnel until 2000.

Lord Etherton led the LGBT Veterans Independent Review, commissioned by the Ministry of Defence and the Office for Veterans Affairs and published in July 2023, which recommended that the veterans discriminated against should receive an “appropriate financial award.”

It concluded that their treatment was “wholly unacceptable” and recommended a programme of restorative measures, including financial recognition, formal apologies and the restoration of medals and records where appropriate.

The presentation in Parliament formed part of the Government’s LGBT Restorative Action measures, which seek to acknowledge and address the injustice faced by military personnel.

Attended by representatives from the Royal Air Force and invited guests, it provided an opportunity to formally recognise Stewart’s service and to reflect on the impact of past policies and served as a formal acknowledgement of the discrimination he faced by the government.

Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey was in attendance at the event to present Stewart with the Etherton Veterans Ribbon.

Speaking after the event, she said: “It was a real honour and privilege to welcome Stewart to Parliament and to present him with his LGBT Restorative Action recognition.

For far too long, LGBT personnel were treated unjustly and excluded from serving openly in our Armed Forces. What happened to Stewart and so many others was wrong, and it should never have happened.

This ceremony was a small but important step in recognising that injustice and offering a long-overdue apology. I was proud to stand alongside Stewart, RAF representatives and others as we marked that moment together.”

She added: “Stewart’s courage, dignity, and service deserve to be recognised and celebrated. It meant a great deal to be part of this with him.”

History of LGBT+ Media in the UK

The history of LGBT+ media in the UK has transitioned from coded underground language to mainstream visibility, often led by groundbreaking moments in public broadcasting and independent publishing. 

Early 20th Century: Coded Language and Subtext

Before decriminalisation in 1967, LGBT+ individuals often used media through subtext or “hidden-in-plain-sight” tactics: 

• Polari: A slang used particularly by gay men in the mid-20th century to communicate safely in public, famously featured in the 1960s BBC radio show Round the Horne through the characters Julian and Sandy.
• Literary Subversion: Writers like Radclyffe Hall faced censorship. Her 1928 novel – The Well of Loneliness – was banned in the UK for its lesbian themes and not available again until 1949.
• Censored Representations: Early television plays like South (1959) were among the first to feature gay-themed drama, though they were often framed as “social problems” to be discussed by experts rather than lived experiences. 

Mid-20th Century: The Path to Decriminalisation

As the 1960s approached, non-fiction media began to address homosexuality more directly, albeit often through a “medical” or “pitiful” lens: 

• 1961: The film Victim became the first English-language film to use the word “homosexual”.
• 1964-1965: ITV’s This Week aired the first non-fiction programmes specifically about gay men (1964) and lesbians (1965).
• 1967: Just before the Sexual Offences Act passed, the BBC’s Man Alive dedicated two episodes to exploring the lives of gay men and women, with many interviewees showing their faces for the first time. 

1970s–1980s: Activism and National Landmarks 

Following decriminalisation, media became a tool for the growing Gay Liberation movement: 

• Independent Publishing: Gay News, the UK’s first gay newspaper, was founded in 1972. Other notable publications included Arena Three (lesbian magazine, 1964–1971) and Capital Gay (1981–1995).
• Broadcasting “Firsts”:
  • 1970: The first male same-sex kiss on British TV occurred in the BBC Two broadcast of Edward II
  • 1974: The first lesbian kiss on TV aired in the BBC drama Girl.
  • 1980: Gay Life premiered on London Weekend Television as the UK’s first TV series dedicated entirely to LGBT+ issues.
• Soap Operas:
  • 1987: EastEnders featured the first same-sex “kiss” (a forehead peck) in a UK soap, which was met with significant tabloid backlash.
  • 1994: Brookside featured first televised lesbian kiss before the watershed. 

1990s–Present: Mainstream Integration

Recent decades have seen a shift towards authentic representation and storylines written by LGBT+ creators: 

• Section 28 Protests: In 1988, lesbian activists famously stormed the Six O’Clock News live broadcast to protest Section 28 legislation.

• Transgender Visibility:
  • 1998: Coronation Street introduced Hayley Cropper, the first transgender character in a British soap.
  • 2015: Boy Meets Girl was the first BBC comedy to focus on trans storylines and star a trans actor (Rebecca Root).

• Modern Classics: Groundbreaking dramas like Russell T Davies’ Queer as Folk (1999) and It’s a Sin (2021) depicted unapologetic queer life and the AIDS crisis from a British perspective.
• Recent Milestones: Shows like Heartstopper (2022) have been praised for positive depictions of young LGBTQ+ relationships, while Strictly Come Dancing introduced its first same-gender pairings in 2020.

Whilst we can highlight the milestones above, there are still significant challenges faced by the LGBT+ community today. Continuing the conversation, fighting for equality and ensuring visibility are all still equally important today.

Concorde

Thirty Out In The City members travelled from Chorlton Street Bus Station to the Manchester Runway Park with a stop off at The Romper pub for lunch.

Visiting the most iconic aircraft in history was a different and unique experience. We got the chance to experience sitting in the flight deck and saw where Queen Elizabeth II sat.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time to wander around the Runway Park and discover the additional aircraft, but there were unrivalled views of planes landing and taking off from Manchester Airport’s runway.

To quote one of our members: “It was a special visit to see British engineering at the forefront of technology.”

Coincidentally, there was a documentary on BBC4 Television last night “Concorde: A Supersonic Story” which told the story of the life of the most glamourous passenger plane that was ever built.

See more photos here.

My Dearest Senorita

Elisabeth Martinez stars as Adela, a solitary only child from a conservative family. She spends her days between the family antique shop and the catechism classes she teaches, marked by her mother’s protectiveness and the silence surrounding her intersex condition, which she is unaware of but which shapes her life.

An unexpected and beautiful friendship with a newly arrived priest, the return of a close childhood friend, and the arrival of a woman, Isabel, trigger a chain reaction that takes Adela on a journey of self-discovery, from Pamplona to Madrid, where her identity will need the love and support of others in order to be revealed.

This film is a loose adaptation of the 1972 film of the same name, starring José Luis López Vázquez and directed by Jaime de Armiñán, who co-wrote the screenplay with José Luis Borau. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1972.

“My Dearest Senorita” is available on Netflix on 1 May.

Just Wilde About Hair

The evolution of Oscar Wilde’s hair offers insight into how he constructed and revised his public identity.

A quote attributed to Oscar Wilde claims that he told a US customs agent upon his 1882 arrival in the United States that he had nothing to declare but his genius. Actually, he probably never said this, but he might just as well have declared his collar-length hair. Combined with a clean-shaven face, this look was virtually unheard of for an adult male European of the middle- or upper-class. And it was this long hair that took New York by storm, even more than his poetry, wit or conversation. 

The photographs of Wilde taken by Napoleon Sarony in New York in January 1882 proved so popular that Sarony had to take his fight to extend copyright protection for his photographs all the way to the Supreme Court. Wilde may have lived another nineteen years, but Sarony’s pictures of the 27-year-old have become the defining images of him, reproduced everywhere from books to the internet, even though that particular length of hair was quickly abandoned. Sarony laid some claim to inventing “Oscar Wilde”; he certainly shaped how we picture him today.

The next time Wilde was photographed by Sarony, on his second trip to New York in August 1883, Wilde had a completely different ‘do. This one was much shorter. These photos are harder to find. In an interview – because yes, his hair continued to be a topic of interest on both sides of the Atlantic – Wilde said his square-cut bangs were inspired by a Roman sculpture in the Louvre. Only after getting his hair cut in this style, Wilde claimed to have discovered that the “bust represented Nero, one of the worst behaved young men in the world, and yet a man of strong artistic passion.”

The 1883 Sarony photographs portray a hairstyle that doesn’t match the usual look for Nero. When Wilde’s enemies, which eventually included the weight of the British establishment, attacked him for his decadence, immorality, sensuality, effeminacy or homosexuality, they often likened him to the shameless Nero.

In light of the prevailing Victorians’ attitude to Nero, Wilde’s seemingly innocuous announcement that he adopted the young emperor’s hairstyle could be considered rash or even brave.

Wilde loved to shock and enjoyed having the public take his frivolities in earnest. He rejected the popular bent for moralising about historical figures. About Nero, Tiberius, and Cesare Borgia, Wilde wrote “they may fill us with terror or horror or wonder, but they do not harm us.” Wilde also used Nero as a goad. “Society must be amazed,” Wilde wrote in a letter to a friend, “and my Neronian coiffure has amazed it.”

In the Louvre the particular statue Wilde was likely inspired by is no longer considered to be of Nero!

Perhaps Wilde made up the Louvre story to deflect the fact that his hair style on returning to America was actually similar to a then-fashionable style among New York City “dudes.” Wilde, who called fashion a “form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months,” never wanted to be associated with anything as mundane as a trendy style.

George House Trust

George House Trust have been nominated at the prestigious National Diversity Awards in the multi-strand category.

They are incredibly grateful to the nominator and those who have voted for them. It means the world to have the support of our community.

Darren Knight, Chief Executive, stated: “We are living in uncertain times, and that makes one thing abundantly clear: regardless of the progress made in HIV prevention, treatment, and rights, we’ve all got to ensure that we continue working for a world where HIV holds no one back.”

Please consider voting for them! – here

Pride in Ageing at the LGBT Foundation

The Pride in Ageing 2025 video has been shortlisted for the final stages of the Smiley Charity Video Awards.

Voting is only open until 23 April for the People’s Choice Award – so get your skates on!

Please vote here

All Aboard The Rainbow Train!

We joined the Bury LGBTQI+ Forum for the return of the Rainbow Train, bringing colour, pride and queer joy back to the tracks for another unforgettable journey.

Departing from Bolton Street Station, Bury, our vintage rainbow-themed steam train travelled to Rawtenstall and back again, delivering a two-hour celebration packed with LGBT+ performances, music and pure Pride energy.

This year, the House of Bridget Queens were joined by the brilliant Bury Fire Choir, performing a selection of Pride anthems on the platform at Bolton Street before departure.

At the Rawtenstall stop, we were treated to a live performance of disco classics.

Funds raised at the event will keep Bury Pride and the Bury LGBTQI+ Forum running each year.

Lots of great photos here.

Lesbian Visibility Week

Lesbian Visibility Week 2026 runs from Monday, 20 April to Sunday, 26 April, with Lesbian Visibility Day on 26 April. Founded by Linda Riley in 2020, this annual international movement celebrates lesbians, queer women and nonbinary individuals while advocating for increased representation, community safety and health.

The untold story of Manchester’s LGBT pioneers

Together, Angela Cooper and Luchia Fitzgerald transformed the lives of thousands of women – yet no record of their activism existed.

“How could you sit on your arse your whole life and not get on the streets and fight?” declares Luchia Fitzgerald, speaking at the beginning of the documentary Invisible Women.

As the co-founder of the Manchester branch of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF), Luchia’s life and work serves as the subject of the aforementioned film, which explores the untold story of two LGBT+ revolutionaries. Together with her former partner Angela Cooper, the pair helped change the face of the city forever, transforming thousands of lives in the process. 

After meeting in a pub in 1969, Angela and Luchia would go on to play a pivotal role in Manchester’s women’s liberation movement. They opened the city’s first women’s refuge, started a rock band, and launched a radical queer printing press. But in Manchester Central Library, there is no record of their activism on file.  

With Invisible Women, however, their story is finally being written into history. Speaking via email, the pair explain that they agreed to participate in the documentary “to create a true record for future generations, of ‘her-story.’”

In 2017 there was an outpouring of TV exploring LGBT+ lives, in response to the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK. Yet these films focused mostly on white, middle class, London-based gay men. Producer Joe Ingham worked on the BBC’s Prejudice and Pride series, where he briefly met Angela and Luchia, but felt that these documentaries largely ignored women.

“The way broadcasters tried to spin these series was that it was all about the men, when in actual fact the GLF would never have happened if it were not for the involvement of women,” he explains. “They have done a hell of a lot of stuff, but it’s never been recorded.”

“Luchia is a fantastic storyteller. She’s just led this incredible life and I felt that her story needed to be told.”

As a teenager, Luchia ran away from Ireland after being rejected by her family. Upon arriving in Britain, she was arrested and sent for a lobotomy – a form of brain surgery that attempted to ‘cure’ homosexuals – but managed to escape to the streets of Manchester.

Shortly afterwards, she met Angela, a politically active student involved in Manchester’s underground gay community. This initial encounter sparked their romantic relationship, but more importantly, it ignited a political relationship too.

Back then, life was particularly difficult for the LGBT+ community. Queer bashings, blackmail, discrimination, homelessness, mental health issues – as well as the threat of aversion therapy, and lobotomies – made life particularly bleak. When the pair met, Angela was already a member of the women’s movement, but, together with Luchia, she decided to take those ideas of liberation into Manchester’s gay scene.

Responding to the hostility they faced in both general society and from within the LGBT+ community, (“which was a ghetto, and pretty unfriendly to lesbians in particular”) Angela and Luchia set up the Manchester branch of the GLF. “It was saying: ‘Fuck You. We’re here and we’re queer and we’re not going anywhere.’”

At the time, there was little support available for women – no Rape Crisis, no Women’s Line. In response, they set up a phone line for those in need of help, advertising the service with posters across Manchester. Several women responded seeking refuge, so the GLF decided to squat in an unoccupied house. “We had an advice line, did pregnancy testing, and then the police heard about us and started bringing women and children to us who had nowhere else to go.”

Thanks to the kind donation of a local solicitor, the GLF bought the house and turned it into a women’s refuge – only the second to be set up in the country at the time.

While they were working to improve the lives of LGBT+ women in the city, Angela and Luchia were both in their 20s, which meant – in their own words – lots of “sex, drugs, and rock and roll.” Joe initially came across Luchia after reading a blog about queer rock bands in the 70s. The band toured across the country, culminating in a now-infamous show in Glasgow. Luchia took off her top mid-performance, with the 1,700 crowd following suit. It was a defiant statement against their oppressors and, from what Angela and Luchia recall, an electric and inspiring performance.

On top of that, the duo also oversaw the GLF’s operation of a radical queer printing press. They printed pamphlets, leaflets, posters, independently publishing their own material and making their voices heard in the local community. “We wanted to be visible,” they say. “After hiding our sexuality all our lives it was great fun! We felt like outlaws, outside the system, with nothing to lose.”

The couple were in a non-monogamous relationship and expressed their politics in ways that were radical for the time. The GLF first made headlines after painting ‘lesbians are everywhere’ across Manchester. They also organised ‘happenings’, where groups of women would go to straight pubs in groups. “The girls would then start kissing and cuddling to shock the drinkers – and then we ran like hell!”

Eventually, the romantic relationship between Angela and Luchia fell apart. But, after the profound effect they’d had on one another’s lives, they were never out of contact. Luchia was the first lesbian that Angela had ever met which, she explains, allowed her to be herself “for the first time”. Luchia adds that, through meeting Angela, she found a new life. “I was introduced to ideas of liberation and fighting for your rights – and I never looked back.”

Today, they live around the corner from each other in Manchester and speak most days. “We are each other’s chosen family. Like most LGBT+ people, we had to find our own families.”

While researching for the project, director Alice Smith explains that it quickly became obvious that Angela and Luchia’s story wasn’t the only one out there. “We went round some houses at the beginning of the shoot and realised this could be a much larger social history,” says Smith. “There’s just a wealth of amazing stories out there from incredible women and they need to be told.” Inspired by working on Invisible Women, Angela has started an oral history project, which aims to record other invisible women and tell their ‘her-stories’.

Though Invisible Women primarily deals with Angela and Luchia’s activism in the ’70s and ’80s, it also highlights how they are both still fighting for women and LGBT+ people today. Both gave talks at screenings of the film about their past work, as well as “the need for activism now.” 

And, by the end of the film, it’s clear that Luchia is just as politically motivated now as she’s ever been. “I believe with every bone in my body that if there’s something that needs doing let’s get it done,” she says, resolutely. “So I’m never done. No, the fight never stops. It really doesn’t. It never stops.”

False LGBT+ asylum claims

We are aware of the BBC’s investigation into individuals allegedly helping people fabricate LGBT+ asylum claims. Any advice to misuse the asylum system should be condemned, but such behaviour by a small number of bad-faith actors does not reflect the reality of LGBT+ people seeking asylum.  

Almost 70 countries criminalise same-sex relations, some with the death penalty. The UK government itself recognises that in Pakistan consensual same-sex sexual activity between men is criminalised with penalties ranging from fines to life imprisonment.

LGBT+ people claiming asylum have fled life-threatening situations and are hoping to rebuild their lives in safety here. For many, claiming asylum can be their only way to escape persecution. 

The asylum system is hostile and complex, and particularly difficult for LGBT+ people as they are required to “prove” their sexual orientation or gender identity to complete strangers. Many have spent much of their lives hiding or denying who they are to avoid violence. Government cuts to legal aid only exacerbates this issue. 

The UK government’s most recent data release shows that only around 2% of all asylum claims included sexual orientation as a reason for needing protection and it is already the case that LGBT+ people must show a well-founded fear of persecution to qualify for refugee protection in the UK. 

Sexuality Summer School 2026: On The Biological

The Sexuality Summer School (SSS) is a postgraduate summer school held annually in May at the University of Manchester. It explores current political and intellectual debates about how the ‘biological’ shapes current and historical understandings of sex, gender, sexuality and race.

During the same week the Summer School also hosts a series of public events including lectures, films and performances.

Public Events Programme:

Changes to the schedule may be unavoidable; please check the website for updates – https://sexualitysummerschool.wordpress.com/

Monday 25 May, 4.30pm – 6.00pm
Plenary Lecture: Professor C Riley Snorton: ‘An Ambiguous Heterotopia, Or Some Informal Remarks on “Biology” After Samuel Delany, Judith Butler and Sylvia Wynter’
Venue: Anthony Burgess Centre, M1 5BY
No booking required, all welcome.

Tuesday 26 May, 3.00pm – 4.30pm 
Plenary Lecture: Professor Sarah Richardson: ‘A Sceptical Empiricist’s Guide to Sex Difference Science’
Venue: John Casken Lecture Theatre, Martin Harris Centre, M13 9PL 
No booking required, all welcome.

Tuesday 26 May, 5.45pm – 8.30pm
Film Screenings programmed with Club Des Femmes and introduced by So Mayer:
Laws of Love / Gesetze de Liebe (Magnus Hirschfeld, 1927); Sanctus (Barbara Hammer, 1990)
Venue: HOME Cinema, M15 4FN
Tickets required (booking link coming soon).

Wednesday 27 May, 4.00pm – 5.30pm
Plenary Lecture: Professor Kane Race: ‘Hijacking Neuroscience: Psychoactive Performatives’
Venue: C1.18, Ellen Wilkinson Building, M15 6JA
No booking required, all welcome.

Wednesday 27 May, 7.00pm – 9.00pm
Performance Reading: All the Devils (written by Jonathan Larkin; produced by Jayne Compton, Switchflicker; funded by The National Lottery Community Fund)
Venue: Anthony Burgess Centre, M1 5BY
No booking required, all welcome.

Thursday 28 May, 5.00pm – 6.30pm
Public Plenary: ‘Experimenting with Hormones’: Professor Celia Roberts in conversation with Professor Jackie Stacey 
Venue: John Rylands Library, M3 3EH
No booking required, all welcome.

Thursday 28 May, 8.00pm
Performance: Second Trimester by Krishna Istha 
Venue: Aldridge Studio, The Lowry, M50 3AZ 
Tickets required. Click here to book. 

For any queries, please email sexualitysummerschool@gmail.com

Don’t forget:

Horizon of Khufu: Journey to Ancient Egypt

What an amazing experience! We put on our virtual reality headsets and (figuratively) fastened our seatbelts! With Horizon of Khufu, we travelled thousands of years back to the heart of ancient Egypt. We discovered the secrets of one of the seven wonders of the world through an innovative concept: the immersive expedition.

We explored the Great Pyramid of Giza as it was more than 4500 years ago. We walked through its mysterious corridors, entered the Queen’s Chamber and met the goddess Bastet.

It was absolutely stunning to rediscover the ancient Egyptian marvels that once defined human ingenuity and imagination, exploring the labyrinth of hidden corridors. We even had a ringside seat at the embalming ceremony of the great Pharaoh Khufu!

The experience was designed in collaboration with Harvard’s Egypt expert Peter der Manuelian, and offered a rare opportunity to witness what it was really like in ancient Egypt’s golden age.

We left exhilarated by a new appreciation for the civilization of the past which mystifies and excites to this day!

The law is changing

Over the years, society has become more inclusive for all: equal marriage, inclusive education in schools and anti-discrimination laws.

But when it comes to LGBT+ safety – we still have far to go. Anti LGBT+ hate crime has risen in recent years – online, on our streets and in public. 

Latest research from Stonewall reveals LGBT+ people do not feel safe to live their lives freely. Less than half (44%) of LGBT+ people feel safe holding their partner’s hand in public.

Even something as simple as reaching out to hold their partner’s hand now feels unsafe.  Everyone deserves to go about their daily lives free from the fear of abuse and harassment, no matter their identities. 

The latest statistics from the Home Office show that there were more than 18,000 hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation and over 2,500 trans related hate crimes in 2024. Behind these numbers are real people who deserve to feel safe to be themselves.

We want the government to ensure the safety of the LGBT+ community,

On 14 April 2026, the Crime & Policing Bill was amended to equalise the punishment of hate crime. The aggravated offence amendment was agreed by the House of Commons. When the law changes, anti-LGBT+ hate crimes will be considered more serious offences in the eyes of the courts – perpetrators will get stronger sentences and victims will have more time to access justice.

This vital change will deliver much needed equality in hate crime legislation.

North West Pride Events – April to June 2026

Here are a few dates for the diary:

Bury Pride Rainbow Train – 19 April

Trafford Pride (Sale) – 16 May

Pride on the Range (Whalley Range) – 23 May

Bury Pride – 30 May

Blackpool Pride – 6 June

Pink Picnic (Salford Pride) – 13 June

Warrington Pride – 13 June

Sparkle Weekend (Manchester) – 26 to 28 June.

More to follow …