Tens of thousands of Brits got in on the action last weekend for the climax of Manchester Pride, a party-hearty eleven-day celebration of unabashed queerness.
One of the UK’s top gay destinations, the northern city of Manchester is home to scores of LGBT venues, the majority centered along or near Canal Street in the so-called Gay Village (site of TV’s original Queer as Folk).
Acting as grand marshal for Saturday’s parade was ageless Cuban singer Margarita Pracatan, better known in the UK than the stateside thanks to a spate of British TV appearances in the 1990s.
As they have been for years, the big crowd favorites were the SLUTS (the Salford Ladies United Temperance Society), a mock-crotchety crew of uptight old biddies bearing tongue-in-cheek slogans like “Gay sex gives me the willies” and “Ram it down my throat and I’ll blow my top.”
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Some took the opportunity to address political issues, including the marriage-equality debate being waged in Great Britain, and the status of Pussy Riot, the punk band imprisoned in Russia. Others paid tribute to gay native son and computing pioneer Alan Turing, in honor of what would have been his 100th birthday.
Even shirtless YouTube sensation Davey Wavey was on hand, to the delight of some young (and not a few older) gay men in the crowd.
Pride weekend closed with a candlelight vigil in the Gay Village’s Sackville Gardens, where a statue of Turing graces a park bench. Alison Moyet, former lead singer of ’80s synth-pop band Yaz (or Yazoo, as they’re known everywhere but in the States), performed a touching rendition of the group’s first hit, “Only You“—just as she had the previous night as the Manchester Pride main-stage headliner.
Itching for more British Pride, and no plans yet for this weekend? Then get ye stat to the southern English seaside city of Brighton, where this year’s gay extravaganza happens on Saturday, September 1.
NormdePlume
What a spot of fun with such posh wankers!
AndrewIB
I have been to a “Pride” gathering once, that was enough..I will never see or be convinced that all the blatant sexual references do anything to further peoples acceptance of the gay community..we come off as silly, obsessed with sexual extremes and that we enjoy dressing up in one form of drag or another..these exhibitions do not represent all gay people, many of whom wouldn’t be seen dead dragged up or with their butt hanging out for all to see..
Also consider that there are children seeing all of this, they are present at these events, which I find alarming, it’s hardly suitable viewing for a minor and we wonder why so many people react with scepticism to the gay community as a whole..well wonder no more just look at the pictures of the various “Pride” events held around the world and you will find all the answers you seek..I am not suggesting we close the closet doors, what I am saying is it’s time to act responsibly, grow up and face facts that not everyone will want to see some large mincing man in a dress or a hairy butt crack waddling down the street..we have clubs for that sort of thing..best not on the streets.
Dan Avery
@AndrewIB: Is the New York City St.Patrick’s Day parade, with thousands of drunken—and sometimes violent—adults—appropriate for children?
nwilsontaylor
I agree with AndrewlB – Whenever anyone is confused about the homosexual agenda I merely tell them to go to any pride parade website and view the albums and they will see all they will ever need to know….thousands of adults drunk on addictive sexual deviancy and naked for all to see, not to mention the filthy language…not appropriate for anyone.
Thank you Andrew for the first sane comment I have read on this blog.
AndrewIB
@Dan Avery No it isn’t appropriate but having never seen the NYC St Patricks Day parade as I am in the UK I cannot draw a comparison so shall take your word for it that it is as awful as you say it is..I can only comment on the Pride Parades I have seen here in the UK. One I went to, never again..it was a low class, low rent affair and did nothing to futher the cause in the general publics eyes..it painted us all with the same brush and I imagine gave the “Haters” even more cause to hate and the fence sitters to come out against us..Given the trouble you guys seem to be having in the majority of the USA regarding equal rights and same sex marriage I wonder if a little more restraint and not exhibting the more extreme aspects of the gay community might actually elevate how people perceive the gay community and you may actually get somewhere..How we ever achieved it I will never know given the Prides I have seen either in person or by reports in the press/TV..ah yes we had an administration that basically wanted to piss every conservative off, that’s how we got “equal rights”..sadly the agenda behind it was not entirely for our benefit as no doubt will be revealed to us in good time..