LGBTQ+ Manchester History: 23 Facts and Statistics You Need to Know

Manchester Pride is just around the corner. However, the city (and its all-important surrounding areas!) is home to a vibrant and inclusive LGBTQIA+ community every day of the year.

Whether it’s the transformation of the Gay Village, the appointment of the UK’s first openly lesbian Mayor or the achievements of codebreaker Alan Turing, there is so much amazing queer history in this Northern city. That’s why we’ve created a list of 23 facts and statistics that tell the story of LGBTQ+ Manchester, right up until the modern day.

1.  Canal Street, now the centre of Manchester’s infamous Gay Village, was built in 1804 as part of the Rochdale Canal. After the area became deserted following the decline of the cotton industry, it was reclaimed by gay men and sex workers to form the city’s red-light district.

2. Three men in women’s clothing were arrested in 1874 on their way to a ‘masquerade ball’ in Salford named the ‘Queen of Camp.’ Academics believe coverage of the court case was the first published mention of ‘camp’ in Britain - a word now synonymous with the world of drag.

3. In 1880, 47 men were arrested in Hulme after officers raided the Pawnbroker’s Assistant’s Association annual ball and found a large number of men in drag. These men were charged with soliciting and inciting each other to commit "improper actions".

4. Napoleons, the oldest gay nightclub in Manchester, was founded in 1941 and owned by renowned Manchester drag queen Fran Foo Foo Lamar.

5. In the 1940s, the New Union Hotel attracted American troops stationed locally by hosting drag shows during World War II. The venue owner was imprisoned in the 1950s for ‘running a public house of ill repute.’

6. Following his work on the Enigma Machine with the British Intelligence Service during World War II, Alan Turing joined the Department of Mathematics at the University of Manchester in 1948. Despite his incredible achievements, Turing was prosecuted for ‘gross indecency’ in 1952 as homosexuality remained illegal in the UK. He accepted hormone treatment as an alternative to prison, something commonly referred to as chemical castration. Two years later, Turing died by suicide.

7. Manchester City Councillor Allan Horsfall founded the North West Homosexual Law Reform Committee in 1964, campaigning for homosexuality to be decriminalised. The related Wolfenden Report declared that homosexuality was not a mental illness, something that was largely accepted at the time.

8. In the late 1960s, people would ask bartenders for a copy of the local gay newspaper The Mancunian Gay Magazine, by using the codeword the ‘Football Pink.’

9. The Manchester Gay Alliance was formed in 1973 by the University of Manchester's Lesbian & Gay Society. The group opened the Manchester Gay switchboard in 1975 to provide support and information to LGBTQ+ callers.

10. The first “Gay Centre” in Manchester was founded in 1978 in a 700-square-foot basement on Oxford Road. Services included general information phone lines, counselling and befriending groups.

11. In 1985, the UK’s first openly lesbian Mayor, Margaret Roff, was appointed by Manchester Council. In the same year, Manchester Pride was officially founded following a grant by the council to hold a two-week celebration.

12. Manchester City Council was one of the first authorities in the UK to agree on a policy for HIV/Aids in 1986.

13. On the 20th of February 1988, 20500 people took to the streets in Manchester to protest against Section 28 .

14. The Albert Kennedy Trust opened in 1990 to help support young homeless LGBTQ+ people in the city, and the Black HIV and AIDS Forum (today known as The Black Health Agency) was created to work with black communities and combat health inequalities. On Canal Street, Mantos Bar was the first bar in the Gay Village to be built with large plate glass windows - described by the developer as a queer visual statement to say "We're here, we're queer – get used to it."

15. Manchester AIDSline expanded its services in 1992 to become George House Trust, now a Manchester institution that helps those living with HIV in the North West to live free from stigma and discrimination.

16. The Independent newspaper dubbed Manchester as ‘Gaychester’ in 1993 as the Gay Village became a booming part of the city’s nightlife.

17. BiPhoria, a social and support group for bisexual people in Manchester, was formed in 1994. It remains the oldest existing bisexual organisation in the UK.

18. In 1995, the first conference on policing queer communities in the UK took place at Manchester Town Hall, attracting approximately 350 delegates.

19. A memorial of Alan Turing was unveiled in Sackville Gardens in 2001, next to Canal Street. The inscription reads “Father of computer science, mathematician, logician, wartime codebreaker, victim of prejudice”.

20. Manchester hosted Europride for the first time in 2003. Hosted by a different European city every year, Europride celebrates the pan-European LGBTQ+ community and was first inaugurated in London just 11 years prior.

21. In 2005, the first Sparkle Weekend for the trans community was held on Canal Street celebrating gender diversity. The event has been a cornerstone of the city’s LGBTQIA+ community ever since.

22. Adam Holcroft founded the queer and autistic-owned apparel and accessories store Rainbow & Co in 2018 to celebrate the queer community and allow as many LGBTQIA+ identities as possible to feel represented.

23. The 2021 Manchester Census indicated that 6.6% (29,222) of the city’s population aged over 16 identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or other (LGB+). Manchester remains one of the largest areas in the UK for LGBTQ+ individuals.

With so many incredible moments of LGBTQIA+ Manchester History, we’d love to know how many you remember first-hand and have lived through yourself! You can share your favourite queer memories with us by emailing info@rainbowandco.uk - in the meantime, have a great Manchester Pride!