Pride in Leigh
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| image credit - danielcartyimages |
words by
Jess Eastoe
Pride in Leigh committee member
This year has seen history being made in Leigh. We have just had our first ever Pride celebration at Leigh Spinners Mill, purposely in between Wigan Pride and Manchester Pride festivals - to compliment their celebrations.
In Leigh, our committee and supporters believe Pride is still a protest and a fight for equality across the world. We want to combine the promotion of equality with the arts, culture and heritage we have at Leigh Spinners Mill to not only make the Millage a safe space for LGBTQ+ but to integrate underrepresented communities into the arts. On Friday, Leigh Film Society hosted the film PRIDE with an outdoor screening which sold out so quickly we had to move the screening to allow more guests.
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| comedian Chris Boyle image credit - danielcartyimages |
On Saturday we had the very first Gig With Pride where we had local comedian Chris Boyle host the event, and had local bands Static Line and The Sonneteers - the headliner for the event was up and coming artist Patrick Saint James, his new single has reached number 1 in the LGBTQ charts. This event was important to Patrick, as his boyfriend and inspiration for Blue Eyes is from Leigh and like many other LGBTQ people moved away from Leigh to be in Manchester, a more accepting city.
This week to continue the provision we have created workshops and talks for LGBTQ+ history and inequality. Monument Men are hosting 2 illustrated talks about Ancient Greek God Antinous, and the first Manchester Drag Ball of 1880. Everything Human Rights have hosted a workshop panel discussion with activists supporting LGBTQ+ rights in African countries, and the injustice African people face in countries where LGBTQ+ are none existence.
In Leigh, we do Pride differently. Our focus is on education, art, culture and heritage to support LGBTQ+ people and their place here. We aim to work all year round to offer events for Pride and equality, in hopes to support Leigh as a town to become more progressive and inclusive of our diversity.
Pride in Leigh was made possible thanks to the following groups based at Leigh Spinners Mill:
Everything Human Rights, Leigh Hackspace, Leigh Film Society, Monument Men
GET INVOLVED
at Leigh Spinners Mill