Source Guide for the History of Manchester’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community
2011 Edition
Introduction The history of Manchester’s LBGT community is an important part of the social and cultural history of the city and the North West. Manchester has the United Kingdom’s largest LGBT community outside London and is renowned for its Gay Village centred around Canal Street. It is the home of festivals such as Pride, queerupnorth and Get Bent, as well as celebrations around LGBT History Month. The Lesbian and Gay Foundation, the UK’s biggest LGB charity, is based on Richmond Street, while Lesbian and Gay Youth Manchester has supported Manchester’s young people at the Gay Centre on Sidney Street for more than 30 years. Greater Manchester was the birthplace of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality in 1964 and Manchester City Council was hugely influential in the campaign against Clause 28 in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This guide is intended to be an introduction to archive and printed material held at Manchester Archives and Local Studies and elsewhere relating to the history of Manchester’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community. We are committed to collecting archives relating to Manchester’s LGBT community. If you hold archive or historic material relating to Manchester’s LGBT or queer communities, or would like to be interviewed to document your own involvement with them, then please do not hesitate to contact us for advice.
M00716 Canal Street, View towards Princess Street, 1963
M54271 Canal Street, 1960
The Manchester Room & County Record Office archiveslocalstudies@manchester.gov.uk www.manchester.gov.uk/libraries/arls www.twitter.com/mcrarchives The Manchester Room@City Library (Local Studies) Elliot House 151 Deansgate Manchester M3 3WD 0161 234 1979 / 0161 234 1098 (for microfilm/microfiche bookings) Greater Manchester County Record Office (with Manchester Archives) 56 Marshall Street New Cross Manchester M4 5FU 0161 832 5284
Top tips for searching archives It can be difficult to find references to LGBT issues in archives. Sometimes this is because the words used to describe identities and behaviours have changed over time, but often it is simply because archivists write summary descriptions rather than describing individual items in detail. Always remember that archives in which a large proportion of the population are found (such as newspapers, courts, hospitals, etc.) will include references to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people. The trick is to decipher them! Sometimes you need to be creative and think of a range of different terms. Remember that a file with an indirectly related title may contain references to your area of interest. Some terms that are common now, such as ‘gay’ and ‘queer’ have different meanings over time which can affect search results. Useful ‘identity’ key words to search for include: gay, gays, queer, queers, lesbian, lesbianism, lesbians, homosexual, homosexuals, sexual minorities, sexuality, sexual orientation, transvestism, transvestites, bisexual, transexual, transgender.
‘It’s Queer Up North’ queerupnorth theatre festival poster, September 1994 (GB127.M800/3/3/1/27)
Foo Foo’s Palace, Dale Street, 1986. m01249
Sometimes terms used to criminalise or stigmatise the LGBT community can be useful in searches, including: drag, buggery, sodomy, indecent, immoral, gross indecency, procurement, soliciting, immorality, unmentionable. Subject indexes are even more problematic because the major thesaurii tend to use the terms “Gender minorities” and “Sexual behaviour”. Using these subject index terms may uncover additional materials. Unfortunately, according to the Unesco Thesaurii the concept of “lesbian” does not exist! For further advice, including a useful glossary, suggested search terms and legislation timeline see Gay and Lesbian History at The National Archives: An Introduction at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet. asp?sLeafletID=357
LGBT History Resources in the North West Manchester Room@City Library The following resources are available in the Manchester Room at City Library: · Ed Swinden, Manchester Gay Pride: a Day in the Life of the Pride Festival (2009), 306.766 SWI and 306.766 SWI (489). A pictorial celebration of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender festival, held annually in the city over the August bank holiday weekend. · Tales from Out in the City: an Anthology of Memories (2009), 306.766 OUT. A volume of memories and reminiscences from older members of the gay community in Manchester, published by Out in the City/Age Concern. · Mike Homfray, Provincial Queens: the Gay and Lesbian Community in the NorthWest of England (2007), 306.766 HOM (308). Based on interviews and research on the gay and lesbian communities of Manchester and Liverpool, this work describes the nature of these communities and the political movement towards social inclusion and communitarian ideals. Covers issues of gay identity and gay and lesbian ‘spaces’ in the two cities, including Manchester’s Gay Village.
Never Going Underground Northwest, n.d. M775.5
· John Birnie and Beverley Skeggs, “Cosmopolitan Knowledge and the Production and Consumption of Sexualized Space: Manchester’s Gay Village”, Sociological Review, vol. 52, 2004, pp 39-61, Q306.766094 BIN (407). An article about the ‘gay space’ of Manchester’s Gay Village and its marketing as a cosmopolitan spectacle as part of a new market for leisure consumption. · Clare Tebbutt, Beyond the Village: how Manchester’s Gay Village has been treated as the sole site and model for Manchester’s queer history and why that is a problem (University of Manchester MA thesis, 2006), q306.766094 TEB (599)
· Beverley Skeggs et al, “Queer as Folk: Producing the Real of Urban Space”, Urban Studies, vol. 41, No. 9, August 2004, pp. 1839-1856 Q306.766094 QUE (409). An article on the construction of a particular ‘urban space’, centred on Manchester’s Gay Village and the image of the television programme ‘Queer as Folk’. · Stephen Quilley, “Constructing Manchester’s ‘New Urban Village’: Gay Space in the Entrepreneurial City” in Gordon Brent Ingram, Anne-Marie Bouthillette and Yolanda Retter eds., Queers in Space: Communities, Public Spaces, Sites of Resistance (1997), pp. 275-294, 306.766 QUE (445) Documents the changing relationship between Manchester City Council and the Gay Village. Charts the role of the Gay Village from a part in the resistance to Thatcherism in the 1980s to incorporation into a cosmopolitan image constructed around leisure, culture and redevelopment. · Details of police raid on a 1880 drag ball in Chorlton upon Medlock (with illustrations) can be found in Steve Jones, Manchester: The Sinister Side (1997), pp.79-82, q364.1 Jo. See also Manchester Evening Mail, Manchester Examiner and Manchester Evening News, 27 Sep-5 Oct 1880 · Details of a Henry / Harriet Stoakes, a woman who dressed as a man for 25 years and lived in Manchester, can be found in the Manchester Guardian 11 April 1838 p.1 & 14 April p.2 and the Observer 16 April 1838 p.1. · Taylor, E. Evans, P. Fraser, A Tale of Two Cities: Global Change, Local Feeling, and Everyday Life in the North of England: a Study of Manchester and Sheffield, (1996), pp.180-197 on Manchester’s Gay Village, 307.76 Ma (299) · H.G.Cocks, “Safeguarding Civility: Sodomy, Class and Moral Reform in Early Nineteenth-Century England”, Past and Present, No. 190, Feb 2006, pp 121-146. This article has some information on gay Manchester in the early nineteenth century. 306.7662 COC (293) · Mancunian Gay, 28-47, Jan 1984-Nov 1985, F306.766 MA3 · Scene Out, 1989-1992 [incomplete], 3 vols., F306.766 MA3 · Manchester Lesbian Community Project, The Manchester Lesbian Newsletter, 2002-present, Q 306.7663 Ma 183 · queerupnorth, 20 May-4 June 2004, f700.8664 Qu (501) · Manchester City Council, Getting Council Services Right for Lesbians, (1996), Q362.830866 MAN · Marketing Manchester, Manchester Gay Guide 2006, (2005), 914.273 MAN (605) · Andrew Hodges, Alan Turing: the enigma, 1992, 510.92TUR(417)
The Manchester Evening News, available on microfilm, has often covered LGBT events and issues. Please check the Information Index under “Gay” and “Lesbian” for an index to various articles. City Life, 1984-2005, F072.733 C1, has also covered LGBT issues, events and history. Please check the Information Index in the Local Studies Library under “Gay” and “Lesbian” for an index to various articles. These include: · “Painting the Town: the gay scene in Manchester over the last twenty years”, 17 Dec 2003-8 Jan 2004, p. 33 · Gay scene in Manchester: various articles, 20 Aug-12 Sep 2002, pp.15-24 The Local Image Collection (www.images.manchester.gov.uk/) contains over 80,000 images of Manchester and its suburbs. A selection of images of LGBT archive items and old photos of the Village can be viewed by following www.flickr.com/photos/manchesterarchiveplus/sets/72157625649694641/
Thespian Tendencies poster, Manchester Library Theatre, c.1991 (GB127.M775)
Archives The following resources are available in the Greater Manchester County Record Office with one day’s notice. Records of Manchester City Council - LGBT Employee Group The group has been running since April 2003. It has a commitment to promote lesbian and gay rights in the Council’s work and to offer effective staff support. Core Group notes, Full Group notes, annual reports, conference pack, promotional material 2002-2006 [restricted access]. ref: M744 Papers of Margaret Roff (1943-1987), Manchester City councillor and lesbian rights campaigner Copy minutes and papers of the Manchester City Council Women’s Steering Group 1984-1985, Manchester City Council Lesbian Working Party 1985, and Manchester City Council Lesbian Sub-Committee 1985-1987; Papers relating to Manchester City Council’s Equal Opportunities Policy and Equal Opportunities 1985-1986 Press Release issued by Rusholme Ward Labour Party regarding the withdraw of Margaret Roff as a Ward Councillor 1986; Letter from Margaret Roff to Larry Whitty regarding discrimination in the Labour Party n.d. ; Newspaper cuttings etc. ref: M746 Records of the Manchester City Council Chief Executive’s Department: Service Improvement and Inclusion Team This collection includes the campaign records of the Service Improvement and Inclusion Team, exhibition material and other collected material. The collected material includes a copy of the Chief Executive’s Report on Clause 28 from 1988, as well as the guides to workers in the education service and social services department which followed in May 1992, and other published material by Manchester City Council, the Albert Kennedy Trust, Northwest Campaign For Lesbian & Gay Equality, Rochdale Lesbian and Gay Action, North West Lesbian and Gay Coalition, among other organisations. Please note the campaign records are on restricted access. The bulk of the exhibition material - which is mostly publicity documents from local gay and lesbian organisations - was collected for two exhibitions hosted by Manchester City Council: ‘Lesbian and Gay Campaigns in the Late 80’s Ten Years On’ (c.1998 and 2000) and ‘Repealed! An exhibition of the history of local campaigns for the repeal of Section 28’ (Manchester Central Library, 18 Nov-31 Dec 2003). ref: M775 [some items restricted access] An online exhibition of photographs and memorabilia, from our collections and from the People’s History Museum, that details the history of the campaign in Manchester against Section 28 can be viewed at www.manchester.gov.uk/ info/448/archives_and_local_studies/520/lgbt_source_guide/5
Quarter Sessions Court Records Court files include brief details of cases. Deposition files include defendant and police statements taken in the course of investigating same-sex offences. Files survive for some years for Salford (A.SQS), Oldham (A.14) and Manchester (M116/2/5: 1875-1951) [some items restricted access] City of Manchester Magistrates Court Court registers from the 1940s to the 1960s record brief details, sometimes including places, of same-sex offences. Ref: M117. Prison and Felony Registers Prison registers for New Bailey and Strangeways prisons dating from mid-late nineteenth century contain details of same-sex offences. Ref: M600 Manchester City Council and Committees The Watch Committee administered the city’s police service from 1839 onwards. Minutes (Council Minutes/Watch Committee/0-104, 1839-1968) and reports (352 042 M22, 1838-date, indexed from 1838-1962) are available. Reports of the Policy and Resources Committee, and Gay Men and Lesbians Sub-committees, are also available (1984-date, 352 042 M22). Records of Family and Friends of Lesbian and Gays, 1967-2002 Includes records of Manchester Parents Group, correspondence, newspaper cuttings and leaflets (ref: G/FFLAG) Papers of Stanley Rowe Stanley Rowe was a youth worker in Manchester. His papers include booklets published by CHE and various youth work organisations on homosexuality, 1970s. ref: G/ROWE/Box 9 Papers of Allan Horsfall Allan Horsfall was founder and secretary of the North Western Homosexual Law Reform Committee. This collection includes correspondence, minutes, newspaper cuttings, 1963-1987, and the transcript of a talk given at Manchester Town Hall in July 1987. ref: G/HOR
queerupnorth archives Dance and debate, clubs and comedy, literature and live art, films and fairies, plays and puppetry, thespians and theory - these were just some of the experiences on offer from Manchester’s very own international lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) arts festival, queerupnorth. Thanks to a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, the archives have been catalogued, repackaged and made available at Manchester Archives. The collection as a whole includes promotional materials, artists’ files, photographs, and film, 1992-2006. In addition, an oral history project has recorded the memories and experiences of those involved with the festival. The catalogue can be viewed on the A2A web site www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/ ref: M800
Poster for North Western Homosexual Law Reform Committee public meeting, Nov 1966 (NMLH.2004.27.3) By kind permission of People’s History Museum
LGBT History Resources held elsewhere in the North West The Lesbian & Gay Foundation (LGF) Number 5 Richmond Street Manchester M1 3HF Tel: 0845 3 303030 info@lgf.org.uk www.lgf.org.uk The LGF is a charity offering a wide range of services to lesbian, gay and bisexual communities. They campaign for a fair and equal society where all lesbian, gay and bisexual people can achieve their full potential, and their mission is: ‘Ending Homophobia, Empowering People’ The LGF also produce outnorthwest, the North West’s only free LGB&T bi-monthly lifestyle, health and listings magazine which dates back to 2000. The LGF has an archive and library specialising in HIV, sexuality, sexual health and mental health reference books, and lesbian and gay fiction. It also holds collections of Attitude magazine 1994-present, The Pink Paper 1991-present and many other lesbian and gay publications such as Gay Times, Gay News, Diva, Boyz and outnorthwest. The NHS North West’s LGB&T timeline celebrates the history and achievements of LGB&T people, particularly those that have contributed to healthcare over the years, and the development of a vibrant and active community in the North West. The timeline also documents the way in which the medical view of sexual orientation and gender identity have altered through the ages, showing the landmark decision points where changes occurred. www.help.northwest.nhs.uk/lgbt_timeline/
Oldham Local Studies and Archives 84 Union Street Oldham OL1 1DN Tel: 0161 770 4653 www.oldham.gov.uk/community/local_studies.htm archives@oldham.gov.uk Oldham Local Studies and Archives are looking to collect archives and experiences of being Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender and living, studying or working in Oldham.
The North West Film Archive Minshull House 47-49 Chorlton Street Manchester, M1 3EU Tel: 0161 247 3097 n.w.filmarchive@mmu.ac.uk www.nwfa.mmu.ac.uk/ The North West Film Archive holds some film archives relating to the LGBT community in the North West. A catalogue of their holdings can be searched on the NWFA web site.
The Labour History Archive and Study Centre People’s History Museum Left Bank Spinningfields Manchester M3 3ER Tel: 0161 838 9190 archive@phm.org.uk www.phm.org.uk/archive-study-centre/ The People’s History Museum is the national centre for the collection, conservation, interpretation and study of material relating to the history of working people in Britain. The Labour History Archive and Study Centre (LHASC) is the only specialist repository for the political wing of the Labour movement. It holds records for working class political organisations from the Chartists to New Labour. Its collections include the papers of Peter Tatchell, 1971-1999 (ref: TAT), and the records of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, 1984-1987 (ref: LGSM).
Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre Central Library Old Street Ashton-under-Lyne OL6 7SG 0161 342 4242 localstudies.library@tameside.gov.uk www.tameside.gov.uk/archives Tameside Local Studies and Archives are looking to collect archives and experiences of being Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender and living, studying or working in Tameside.
Lancashire Archives Lancashire Record Office, Bow Lane, Preston PR1 2RE 01772 533039 record.office@lancashire.gov.uk www.lancashire.gov.uk/education/record_office/ Lancashire Archives is actively building a ‘pink collection’ of archives, oral histories and experiences of being Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender in Lancashire as part of the Outing the Past project.
Liverpool Record Office 0161 233 5817 archives@liverpool.gov.uk http://liverpool.gov.uk/archives Liverpool’s gay tourism guide H306.766 LIV Our story Liverpool: Memories of Gay Liverpool H306.7660942753 OUR (see project website online www.ourstoryliverpool.co.uk/)
Manchester Digital Music Archive www.mdmarchive.co.uk/queernoise/
Working Class Movement Library 51, The Crescent Salford M5 4WX 0161 736 3601 Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom: papers relating to the Lesbian and Gay group, 1986-1989 (ORG/CPBF/7/1-2)
The Lesbian Community Project 0161 273 7128 49-51 Sidney Street Manchester M1 7HB www.lesbiancommunityproject.co.uk The Lesbian Community Project is the only full time project in the U.K. dedicated to Lesbian and Bisexual women. We offer advice, information and social networking opportunities. We now operate a drop-in session offering information, advice and support on a Tuesday afternoon, as well as our usual groups that are going from strength to strength. We are planning to begin offering a counselling service, as well as setting up some new groups. We also have a Facebook group and Twitter feed bringing you up-to-the-minute information and updates on what we’re doing. Follow us on Twitter @LesbianCP or search Facebook for Lesbian Community Project. Here, you can see what events we have planned, what groups are on soon, and also get contact information should you ever need us. As always, your suggestions are welcomed for anything you would like to see happen. After all, the LCP would not exist were it not for our lovely service users!
Love Rights Festival Poster, 1989 (GB127.M775/5)
LGBT History Resources Held Nationally The National Archives Kew Richmond Surrey, TW9 4DU Tel: 020 8876 3444 See Domestic Records Information 116. Gay and Lesbian History at The National Archives: An Introduction at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet. asp?sLeafletID=357 The National Archives also host Out There, a portal designed to provide a set of signposts for people wanting to research British LGBT history. www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/partnerprojects/outthere/
Hall-Carpenter Archives Archives Division Library of the London School of Economics and Political Science 10 Portugal Street London, WC2A 2HD Tel: 020 7955 7223 Document@lse.ac.uk The Hall-Carpenter Archives (HCA) at the London School of Economics are Britain’s major resource for the study of lesbian and gay activism in the UK. Over thirty lesbian and gay organisations and activists have deposited records with HCA. Further information can be found on their web site at http://www2.lse.ac.uk/ library/archive/holdings/hall_carpenter_archives.aspx They also host a directory of Lesbian and Gay Research in UK Universities and Colleges at http://hallcarpenter.tripod.com/univ.html
Hall-Carpenter Archives Oral History Project British Library 96 Euston Road London, NW1 2DB oralhistory@bl.uk www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/sound/ohist/ohcoll/ohsex/sexuality.html The tapes and transcripts of the Hall-Carpenter Archives Oral History Project, plus related material from later projects, are housed at the British Library’s oral history department.
Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive (Middlesex University) Learning Resources Centre Cat Hill Campus Middlesex University Barnet Hertfordshire, EN4 8HT Tel: 0208 3116683/4933 www.lagna.org.uk/ Collections of over 120,000 press cuttings covering all aspects of gay life from the 1930s to the present. LAGNA also has a library of approximately 500 titles on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender subjects.
Section 28 Document Ref: GB127.M775/1/5
British Library 96 Euston Road London, NW1 2DB www.bl.uk The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and it receives a copy of every publication produced in the UK. It holds some Manchester LGBT publications, such as sets of Mancunian Gay, 1981-1986, Gay Life, 1986- and Scene Out 1989- . The library catalogue can be searched on the British Library web site.
The Women’s Library London Metropolitan University 25 Old Castle Street London, E1 7NT www.thewomenslibrary.ac.uk moreinfo@thewomenslibrary.ac.uk 020 7320 2222 The Women’s Library has excellent collections relating to lesbian history. A source guide is available here http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/thewomenslibrary/ aboutthecollections/source-notes/sources_sexuality.cfm
King’s College, Cambridge, and University of Southampton www.turingarchive.org/ An excellent online archive including digital images of personal and academic records from the Turing Archive at King’s College, Cambridge (Ref: PP/AMT). More information on Alan Turing is available at www.turing.org.uk - this site is maintained by Turing’s biographer, Andrew Hodges.
Genesis www.genesis.ac.uk A free online resource for women’s history comprising a dataset and a guide for researchers. A search of the dataset includes links to lesbian collections. The guide for researchers includes lots of suggested institutions which may help you track down lesbian collections.
The Lesbian Archive and Information Centre (LAIC) Glasgow Women’s Library 15 Berkeley Street Glasgow G3 7BW info@womenslibrary.org.uk 0141 248 9969 www.womenslibrary.org.uk/collection/laic/ The Lesbian Archives Collective was established in London in 1984 and its archives were transferred to Glasgow Women’s Library in 1995. Collections include lesbian periodicals such as Arena 3, The Ladder, and Sappho and newsletters of local groups from across the UK, records of the campaigner and journalist, Jackie Forster; oral histories; campaign materials; and collections from organisations such as the Camden Lesbian Centre and Black Lesbian Group.
TUC Library Collections London Metropolitan University Learning Centre 236 Holloway Road, London, N7 6PP www.londonmet.ac.uk/tuc www.unionhistory.info tuclib@londonmet.ac.uk The TUC Library Collections hold material relating to gay, lesbian and transgender workers and trade unions.
Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays newsletter, n.d. (GB124.G.FFLAG)
Activities and Events in Manchester • • • •
‘Over the Rainbow – Gay Manchester’, a guided walk www.visitmanchester.com Events celebrating Manchester’s LGBT history during Pride every August www.manchesterpride.com In 2012 Manchester will be contributing towards the centenary of Alan Turing, the computer genius www.turingcentenary.eu/ LGBT History Month co-ordinates events across the UK each February www.lgbthistorymonth.org.uk
Source Guide for the History of Manchester’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community The Manchester Room@City Library (Local Studies) Elliot House, 151 Deansgate Manchester M3 3WD 0161 234 1979 / 0161 234 1098 (for microfilm/microfiche bookings)
Greater Manchester County Record Office (with Manchester Archives) 56 Marshall Street, New Cross Manchester M4 5FU 0161 832 5284
This source guide as been funded by the Manchester Metropolitan University and the Lesbian Community Project. It is part of a project between Manchester City Council and Manchester Metropolitan University to produce source guides on various historical themes relating to Manchester. We would also like to thank LGBT History Month and the Lesbian & Gay Foundation for their help in producing the guide.