On the first Wednesday monthly we meet in the Chief Librarian’s Office, Manchester Central Library, St Peter’s Square, Manchester M2 5PD from 2.00pm to 4.00pm. Take the lift to the third floor and turn left through the doors signed “Meeting Rooms”.

For the rest of the month we meet weekly at Cross Street Chapel, 29 Cross Street, Manchester M2 1NL on Thursdays from 2.00pm to 4.00pm.

Monthly Women’s Meetings held on last Thursday of the month at Cross Street Chapel, 29 Cross Street, Manchester M2 1NL from 2.00pm to 4.00pm.

Meetings are “drop-ins”. There is no need to book, just turn up.

On Wednesdays (and occasionally other days), there are different activities, but you do need to book. Please contact us here. You are welcome to attend on one or both days.

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Next activities:

All trips need to be booked. Please note that some trips have a limited number of places and are available on a first come basis. If a trip is “Fully Booked Up”, please ask to go on the reserve list as there are often late cancellations.

Please contact us here

Wednesday, 20 May – 2.00pm – 4.00pm – Collage and Badge Making at Mayes Gardens

Meet at Piccadilly Tavern, 71-75 London Road, Piccadilly, Manchester M1 2BS at 12.00 noon for lunch.

Tram to New Islington for a crafty afternoon!

Thursday, 21 May – 2.00pm – 4.00pm – Meeting in Cross Street Chapel

Thursday, 21 May – 6.00pm – The Hallé – Rush Hour: West Side Story Symphonic Dances – Free – (Fully Booked Up)

Bridgewater Hall, Lower Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3WS

Emilia Hoving conductor
Anna Lapwood organ

Poulenc Organ Concerto
Kristina Arakelyan Toccata for Organ and Orchestra
Bernstein West Side Story: Symphonic Dances

Kristina Arakelyan, dubbed internationally as ‘one to watch’ (Scala Radio), is one of today’s most exciting composers, celebrated by audiences and critics alike for her music’s serene and compelling honesty. What a treat we have in store to hear Anna Lapwood perform her Toccata for Organ and Orchestra as her closing performance as Hallé Featured Artist. In this, her Hallé debut, Emilia Hoving guides us through some of the best-loved tunes and interludes from Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story: from the poignant hopefulness of ‘Somewhere’, through the percussive fire of ‘Mambo’, to the tragic finale, rounding off what is sure to be an electrifying Rush Hour concert.

Saturday, 23 May – 7.30pm – Manchester Proud Chorus Jubilee Concert

Contact Theatre, Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6JA – Price £19.50

LEGENDS, DIVAS & DREAMERS

We’re so excited to announce our very own concert, celebrating more than 25 years of Manchester Proud Chorus!

We will be singing a varied playlist of the LGBTQ+ icons who move us. We’re sharing decades of music at the heart of our community.

But tickets here.

Monday, 25 May – Friday, 29 May – 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 (book here)

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

Wednesday, 27 May – 2.00pm – Salford Then & Now Photography Exhibition – Free

Height Library, King Street, Irlams O’ Th’ Height, Salford M6 7GY (Salford’s oldest public building)

Meet in The Waterhouse Pub, 67-71 Princess Street, Manchester M2 4EG for lunch at 12.00 noon. We will take the bus to Salford at 1.15pm.

Thursday, 28 May – 2.00pm – 4.00pm – Meeting in Cross Street Chapel

Thursday, 28 May – 2.00pm – 4.00pm – Women’s Meeting in Cross Street Chapel

Tuesday, 2 June – Out On The Radio – Show 7 on 96.9fm

2.00pm – 3.00pm Live and available on Mixcloud to listen again. Norman and Tony are chatting and playing tunes.

Wednesday, 3 June – 2.00pm – 4.00pm – Meeting at Manchester Central Library.

We are meeting in the Chief Librarian’s Office, Manchester Central Library, St Peter’s Square, Manchester M2 5PD from 2.00pm to 4.00pm. Take the lift to the third floor and turn left through the doors signed “Meeting Rooms”.

Thursday, 4 June – UK AIDS Memorial Quilt on display in Wakefield (first time ever outside of London)

Meet at Piccadilly Station at 10.30am.

Train at 11.00am to Wakefield Kirkgate. Free circular city bus (every 10 minutes – 12 stops) linking to Wakefield Exchange, Union Street (directly next to Wakefield Bus Station and opposite Trinity Walk Shopping Centre). Venue has places for lunch at £11 or £12.

Return on Free circular city bus (3 stops) to Wakefield Kirkgate. Train at 2.40pm or 3.41pm to Manchester Piccadilly.

Thursday, 4 June – Saturday 6 June – Northern Ballet – Gentleman Jack – Various Prices from £22

Lowry Theatre, Pier 8, Salford Quays, Salford M50 3AZ

Masters of storytelling Northern Ballet bring to the stage the extraordinary story of Anne Lister – better known as Gentleman Jack. 

Much like Anne Lister herself, this new Gentleman Jack ballet is a force to be reckoned with. With striking choreography by award-winning choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, bold costumes, creative storytelling, and new live music by Peter Salem, Gentleman Jack paints a modern portrait of a woman ahead of her time. 

Often described as ‘the first modern lesbian’, it was only after her death, when her secret diaries were decoded, that a truly unique (and somewhat scandalous) life was revealed. Anne lived and loved as she desired, not as 19th century society expected her to. 

Ambition without fear. Love without compromise.  

Gentleman Jack is a co-production with Finnish National Opera and Ballet.

Book here

Wednesday, 10 June – 12.00 noon – 3.30pm – Age Without Limits Day at Manchester Art Gallery

Meet in The Waterhouse Pub, 67-71 Princess Street, Manchester M2 4EG for lunch at 12.00 noon. We will walk to the Art Gallery at 1.00pm.

The Pride in Ageing group at LGBT Foundation are taking inspiration from Manchester Art Gallery’s WORN: the life within clothes exhibition, which showcases pieces of clothing that have lived fascinating and vibrant extended lives through mending, altering, customising and recycling. Don your glad rags or attire that feels most comfortable for an afternoon for over 50s to mark Age Without Limits Day.

Activities include:

• Drop into our mending, altering and customising workshop in the gallery atrium throughout the event – bring along an item of your own clothing to transform with stitching or patches
• Experience a 30-minute highlights tour of the WORN exhibition at 2.00pm or 2.45pm
• Soak up some nature with the summer blooms in the Derek Jarman Pocket Park just outside the Mosley Street Entrance, looked after by older LGBTQ+ volunteers from the Pride in Ageing programme and decorated especially for the day
• Plus an LGBT Foundation information stall and ‘Style Without Stopping’ photobooth.

The Art Gallery is an accessible venue – please contact prideinageing@lgbt.foundation if you have any accessibility needs for the day. The Cafe at the gallery will be open throughout the event selling drinks and cakes – please note that refreshments have to be consumed in the cafe or outside in the garden and cannot be taken into the exhibition tour.

A huge thanks to the Derek Jarman Pocket Park Volunteer Gardeners for helping with the planning for this event.

To book a place, please contact us here.

Thursday, 11 June – 2.00pm – 4.00pm – Age Without Limits Party

(with Wolf & Jennifer)

Cross Street Chapel, 29 Cross Street, Manchester M2 1NL

Buffet, raffle and great entertainment to celebrate ageing without limits and to challenge ageism.

RSVP for catering purposes.

Saturday, 13 June – 7.30pm – BBC Philharmonic – Mahler’s Symphony No 2 – Free

Bridgewater Hall, Lower Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3WS

John Storgårds conductor
Siobhan Stagg soprano
Stefanie Irányi mezzo soprano
CBSO Chorus

Mahler Symphony No 2, ‘Resurrection’

‘The whole thing sounds as though it came to us from some other world. I think there is no one who can resist it. One is battered to the ground and then raised on angel’s wings to the highest heights.’ – Gustav Mahler

Mahler’s Resurrection is a colossal work of drama, beauty, and power. From its gripping opening funeral march to its earth-shaking finale, this is music on the grandest possible scale that demands to be experienced live.

This is a work that redefined the possible, pushing every musical and emotional boundary. The massed forces of a vast orchestra, offstage brass, vocal soloists, and a powerful chorus combine to create a truly overwhelming experience.

130 years after its first performance, Mahler’s Resurrection remains one of the most profound and life-affirming works of art ever created.

Sunday, 14 June – 7.30pm – 10.00pm – Penny Magpie Theatre Company Presents: Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche – £18 + booking fee

Hebden Bridge Town Hall, St George’s Street, Hebden Bridge HX7 7BY

It’s 1956 and The Susan B Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein are having their annual quiche breakfast. As the assembled ‘widows’ await the announcement of the society’s prize-winning quiche, the atomic bomb sirens sound! Has the Communist threat come to pass? How will the ‘widows’ respond as their idyllic town and lifestyle faces attacks? 

Winner of a national ‘Best Amateur Production’ award after a sell-out run at Theatre@41 in York in 2024, The Penny Magpie Theatre Company bring ‘5 Lesbians Eating A Quiche’ to Hebden Bridge in a tasty recipe of hysterical laughs, sexual innuendoes, unsuccessful repressions and delicious discoveries.

Buy tickets here.

Wednesday, 17 June – Coach trip to Blue John Mines, Castleton, Derbyshire and Eyam

Meet at Chorlton Street Bus Station, Manchester M1 3HW at 10.00am. Coach leaves at 10.30am for optional trip down the mines (245 steps down and 245 steps back up!)

Then we visit Eyam, known as “the plague village”, in reference to how it chose to isolate itself after bubonic plague was discovered there in 1665, so as to prevent the infection spreading.

Lunch at Eyam Tea Rooms.

Thursday, 18 June – 2.00pm – 4.00pm – Meeting in Cross Street Chapel

Wednesday, 24 June – “Queer Lens” Exhibition at Manchester Jewish Museum

Meet at The Seven Stars (The Printworks), 6-8 Dantzic Street, Manchester M4 2BS at 12.00 noon.

Bus 135 to Jewish Museum. View exhibition at 2.00pm approximately.

Thursday, 25 June – 2.00pm – 4.00pm – Meeting in Cross Street Chapel

Thursday, 25 june – 2.00pm – 4.00pm – Women’s Meeting in Cross Street Chapel

Friday, 26 June – Sunday, 28 June – Sparkle Weekend

History of Sparkle

Sparkle Weekend has its roots in Manchester’s long-standing trans community gatherings. In 2005, the event began as a beauty pageant, creating a rare and important space where people could come together, express themselves freely, and build community at a time when visibility and acceptance were far more limited.

Over the years, the event grew and evolved alongside the community it served. What began as a small gathering has developed into Sparkle Weekend, due to celebrate its 21st year. Sparkle Weekend is the world’s longest running, and also widely recognised as the UK’s largest celebration of trans and gender diverse life. The weekend welcomes thousands of visitors to Sackville Gardens for a vibrant programme of performances, wellbeing spaces, workshops, activism, and community celebration.

Sparkle – The National Transgender Charity supports and celebrates trans and gender diverse communities across the UK through wellbeing services, advocacy, and accessible community events. The charity is entirely volunteer-led, with no paid staff or sessional workers.

From Friday 26 – Sunday 28 June 2026, Sparkle Weekend returns to Manchester’s Gay Village, where it celebrates its 21st year as the UK’s longest running celebration of trans and gender diverse life, welcoming thousands of visitors for a weekend of community, culture, and visibility.

Introduction of Paid Ticketing

Sparkle Charity has made the decision to introduce paid tickets for 2026.

In recent years, the rising costs of delivering safe, accessible events have created significant challenges. While the team has worked extensively to secure sponsorship in order to keep Sparkle Weekend free to attend, this has become increasingly difficult due to changes in the financial and corporate landscape, alongside the challenges faced by grassroots trans organisations.

As a result, ticketing has been introduced to ensure the sustainability of the event and the continuation of Sparkle’s wider work supporting the gender diverse community.

So – Sparkle Charity needs your support 🩷⁠

The cost of tickets are as follows:

£1 trans hardship ticket (limited number)

£5 youth ticket

£7.50 standard ticket (18+)

£7.50 accessible ticket 

£12.50 allyship ticket

£25 pay it forward ticket

All proceeds from ticket sales are directed straight back into the charity, to financially support our year-round events for our community and service users.

⁠Ticket purchase link: spkl.uk/tickets

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Please contact us here if you are interested in attending the trips. There is no need to book to attend the meetings – just turn up. However, you may contact us if you wish.

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