{"id":12613,"title":"Manchester Made Me","description":"When I moved to Manchester thirty years ago it was a different place. I lived there for twenty years and during that time I was a witness to the evolution of a city. I left ten years ago and I know since then the evolution has continued at pace","content":"

\"\" When I moved to Manchester thirty years ago it was a different place. I lived there for twenty years and during that time I was a witness to the evolution of a city. I left ten years ago and I know since then the evolution has continued at pace.<\/p>

I remember Manchester as a place where I made life-long friends. I had my heart broken and mended. I was yelled at in the streets, abused, mugged and beaten. I became a man, a drag queen and an artist.\u00a0<\/p>

I saw the rise of the gay village. I attended little fund raising f\u00eates that would evolve into Manchester Pride. I marched against war and injustice, attended weddings, funerals and vigils. I was at my most powerful and at my weakest. I was adored and despised, remembered and now, mostly forgotten.\u00a0<\/p>

Manchester was the first place I wore high heels and a wig, it was the place where I planted my first pansy. It was the place I became an artist and where I laid the foundations for the person I have become. Every August Bank Holiday weekend I\u2019m reminded of the chaotic weekends I attended, then witnessed from a distance. I remember the stench of piss that would drift across the city centre. As years passed I remember feeling increasingly alienated from the event as my youth waned and my usefulness subsided. I began to question the politics of it, the rainbowfication of Pride and machiavellian businesses that appeared to be exploiting the pink pound.\u00a0<\/p>

I hope that now Manchester Pride has evolved, I hope it is more inclusive of gender, identity and race. I hope it has retained the political aspirations it once had. I hope that it is now less a theme park for the heteronormative masses to gawp at. I hope that it is warm, welcoming and challenges those that need to be.\u00a0<\/p>

I hope most of all, that if you attend, you\u2019re safe and well and embraced by a community that has been decades in the making, a community I was once part of and still remember with huge fondness.\u00a0<\/p>","urlTitle":"manchester-made-me","url":"\/blog\/manchester-made-me\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/manchester-made-me\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/birdscanflystore.com\/blog\/manchester-made-me\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1630152018,"updatedAt":1630152796,"publishedAt":1630152796,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":107566,"name":"Birds Can Fly"},"tags":[{"id":1112,"code":"the-pansy-project","name":"ThePansyProject","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/the-pansy-project\/"},{"id":1114,"code":"art","name":"Art","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/art\/"},{"id":1117,"code":"l-g-b-t-q","name":"LGBTQ","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/l-g-b-t-q\/"}],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/9vt0cxzjpw9b4qgrwafgcot3nrrsu2a7i5fluumgjacugi0i.png","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/9vt0cxzjpw9b4qgrwafgcot3nrrsu2a7i5fluumgjacugi0i.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/9vt0cxzjpw9b4qgrwafgcot3nrrsu2a7i5fluumgjacugi0i.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"Manchester Made Me","metaDescription":"When I moved to Manchester thirty years ago it was a different place.","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":9889,"title":"LGBT History Month","url":"\/blog\/lgbt-history-month\/","urlTitle":"lgbt-history-month","division":107566,"description":"Paul Harfleet reflects on LGBT History Month 2021.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ekp1npewm3bbdgz5vh688egmi8wa75ayhuzytu5v3mmwofwu.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ekp1npewm3bbdgz5vh688egmi8wa75ayhuzytu5v3mmwofwu.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":9902,"title":"Stories Behind the Designs","url":"\/blog\/the-story-of-birds-can-fly\/","urlTitle":"the-story-of-birds-can-fly","division":107566,"description":"The journey from drawing to garment.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/logdy9wz68ihyajfcrhjcrncc3nxc9tms1c6yx9jculeotz6.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/logdy9wz68ihyajfcrhjcrncc3nxc9tms1c6yx9jculeotz6.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":10431,"title":"Birds Can Fly: Hearing from the Winners","url":"\/blog\/reflecting-on-the-birds-can-fly-competition\/","urlTitle":"reflecting-on-the-birds-can-fly-competition","division":107566,"description":"Hearing from the winners of my Second Birds Can Fly Competition and reflecting on the impact of this new body of work.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/4ssny9ukfh73kvpgeqxj8aclazu3iziv69lte62andyxlhqx.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/4ssny9ukfh73kvpgeqxj8aclazu3iziv69lte62andyxlhqx.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}