Celebrating, Manchester style
Manchester Pride is a big surprise for the uninitiated. Can the police really dress up as panda bears and prison officers smile at street crowds through bars on a carnival wagon? Judy Kirby was suitably amazed
Once past the shock of seeing figures of authority entering into the spirit of the day, the carnival atmosphere becomes heady. So gay and straight people really can have fun together! And on a jolly bank holiday weekend in Manchester, Quakers were celebrating events that helped make all this possible. Mount Street Quakers’ pride is in the fifty year struggle within and without the Religious Society of Friends to gain a measure of equality for homosexual people. With the coming of same sex marriage, the struggle might be considered over, but no-one is complacent. At the celebration in Mount Street a Friend confessed: ‘I would not hold my partner’s hand in the street.’
You need to login to read subscriber-only content and/or comment on articles.