The Manchester City Police raid a fancy dress ball which was taking place at the Temperance Hall in Hulme. 47 men were arrested and charged with soliciting and inciting each other to commit “improper actions”.[1]
20th century[]
1940s[]
early 1940s
The Union pub, now , plays host to drag shows during World War II. They were popular with American troops stationed nearby.
1950s[]
1950s
The Union starts to attract an LGBT clientele.
1952
Alan Turing is prosecuted for being in a relationship with another man. He dies by suicide in 1954.
1960s[]
1960s
Manchester's gay scene is based in an area between Albert Square and Deansgate with pubs such as the Rockingham and Rouge being popular although continues to be frequented by the gay community.
1964
The North West Homosexual Law Reform Committee is founded by Labour councillor Allan Horsfall to campaign for the recommendations of The Wolfenden Report to be brought into law. The first meeting is held in Manchester. Three years later, the partial decriminalisation of sex between men over the age of 21 took place. The North West branch of the national Homosexual Law Reform Committee became the national Campaign for Homosexual Equality in 1969.
Rose Robertson sets up Parents Enquiry, the predecessor of FFLAG.
1970s[]
1973
The is formed by the University's Lesbian & Gay Society, CHE, a lesbian group and transvestite transsexual group.
1975
2 January – The Manchester Gay Alliance opens the Manchester Gay Switchboard to provide support and information to callers. It originally operated in the basement of the University of Manchester. After receiving a council grant in 1978, the scheme found a new home on Bloom Street. By 1990, the switchboard teamed up with The Lesbian Link Helpline to form the .
1978
The first edition of The Mancunian Gay Magazine is published.[2]
1980s[]
1984
Manchester City Council forms the Equal Opportunities Committee. The numerous equality posts created included a Gay Men's Officer and a Lesbian Officer, first occupied by and Maggie Turner respectively. [3]
1985
Manchester Pride is born following a £1,700 grant from the Manchester City council to put on a two-week celebration, complete with a huge banner adorning Oxford Street.[4]
1986
Europe's first purpose-built Gay Centre built in Manchester when Manchester City Council approved funding of £118,000. The centre, on Sidney Street, is still serving the community today.
1987
Greater Manchester Police launches what will become the UK-wide Operation Spanner police investigation into same-sex male sadomasochism.[5][6][7]
1988
A huge anti-Section 28 protest is held in Manchester in which over 20,000 take to the streets to let their disquiet be heard. As a result, the Council produced over 6,000 leaflets that set out how they aimed to prevent LGBT staff and service users from receiving unequal treatment.
1989
The Northwest Campaign for Lesbian & Gay Equality organises Manchester's "Celebration of Gay and Lesbian Diversity" Love Rights. It consists of a music festival at the Free Trade Hall and a political march starting at All Saints Park culminating in a rally with stalls in Albert Square. The main focus of the gay rights movement at the time was opposing Section 28.
1990s[]
1990
opens as the first bar in the area not to be hidden away. Instead the front of the bar featured windows, allowing passers-by to see in. The building was the first in the area to be clad with large plate glass windows.
The Albert Kennedy Trust opens in Manchester to support young homeless LGBT people. The Trust is opened following the death the previous year (30 April 1989) of Albert Kennedy who died after falling from a car park roof in Manchester city centre, while being chased by several attackers in a car.[8]
1991
Village Charity established and commences the festival then known as Manchester Mardi Gras, 'The Festival of Fun' it raised £15,000.[4][9]
The UK's first conference on policing LGBT communities "Police and Diversity: An Agenda for Change" is hosted by the Greater Manchester Lesbian and Gay Policing Initiative at Manchester Town Hall, attracting approximately 350 delegates.[10]
23 February – The first episode of Queer as Folk, a drama series based on Manchester's gay scene, is broadcast on Channel 4.
23 September - The first Bi Visibility Day (known as International Celebrate Bisexuality Day at the time) is marked with a stall and social on Canal Street by BiPhoria, the only UK event to mark the date that year.
21st century[]
2000s[]
2000
The Lesbian & Gay Foundation is formed following the merger of Healthy Gay Manchester and Manchester Lesbian & Gay Switchboard.
Mardi Gras is renamed Gayfest.
nightclub opens.
2002
The Mardi Gras event is almost cancelled following a row between Greater Manchester Police and organisers over drinking bylaws and crowd safety.[11] The event went ahead and attracted 100,000 visitors.[4][12]
2003
Manchester hosts Europride and for the first time, the entire gay village area is gated off throughout the August bank holiday weekend with an entrance fee charged to get into the event.[13] and at the final closing ceremony, it was announced that the event would now be known as "Manchester Pride".[4]
2005
10 June - The first Sparkle weekend for the trans community is held on Canal Street.
14 August – Gaydio makes its first broadcast, transmitting for two weeks ahead of, and during, the 2006 Manchester Pride festival.
2010s[]
2010
18 June – Gaydio commences full-time broadcasting after being given a community licence by regulator Ofcom.[14]
2012
1-3 June – Manchester hosts the Bingham Cup, an international rugby union tournament featuring gay rugby union teams from across the world.[15]
31 December – Legends nightclub closes when the building which hosts it is demolished to make way for a hotel. In the past the venue had hosted the legendary Twisted Wheel Club.
2015
April – The Lesbian & Gay Foundation changes its name to the LGBT Foundation.[16]
August – For the first time, elements of the Manchester Pride four-day August bank holiday festival are held outside of the Village when the music stage is moved to the site of the former Manchester Mayfield railway station.[18] 'The Big Weekend' has been replaced by a ticketed event for 2019, with an entry fee of £71.[19][20][21]
^Regina v Ian Wilkinson, Peter John Grindley, Colin Laskey, Anthony Joseph Brown, Graham William Cadman, Roland Leonard Jaggard, Saxon Lucas, Donald Peter Anderson (and others) (Central Criminal Court 1990).
