Nothing to Celebrate - £1,000

There are many myths about Christopher Columbus - one being that he, and the prevailing genocide, should be celebrated. Nothing To Celebrate  will be a counter-celebration of indigenous cultures of Abya Yala in Manchester. 

Nothing to Celebrate will provide a space for the community to celebrate itself in all its past, present and future forms through food and music, with community sourced recipe zine, community cooking and dance party. Feed the soul, feed the revolution! The grant will fund the first event in what will hopefully become an annual series of events to bring the Abya Yala queer diaspora together, to tackle isolation from limited opportunities to celebrate the culture and practice freedom in safety.    

ALL WMN - £1,000

The ALL WMN live music event will show that there is still a Lesbian and Bi women community in the village and beyond to help stop isolation, create a meeting space, and show visibility through live music. It will create friendships, relationships, and hopefully in the future develop into an annual women's pride event with music women's stalls, etc. 

Better Things Rainbow Lives - £600

This grant will help to re-establish a LGBTQI+ group for people with learning disabilities after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to focus on wellbeing and mental health as these are areas where we have seen the greatest decline. 

We want to set up monthly meet ups where the group can initially socialise in a safe and friendly environment while creating the groups identity and exploring ways to keep well, especially during the winter months when it is easier to become more isolated. People with learning disabilities are at a greater risk of experiencing poor mental health without factoring in issues they may be experiencing with relationships and sexuality. 

We have already done some work on easy read information on sexual health with the LGBT Foundation, we would love to distribute some further information and books relating to LGBTQI+ and disability so that the people we support, and others, have access to publications they can relate to. 

People we have spoken to who would like this project to run have said that they would like to produce some resources to help others to understand what LGBTQ+ is and how people with learning disabilities identify, what safe spaces look like for them and what inclusion means.

Rain On Me FC - Winter Months - £1,000

Rain on Me FC is a grassroots LGBTQ+ football club for players from all backgrounds and levels of ability. Grant funding will enable us to ensure our practices continue to be safe and accessible over the winter, by providing training on a well-lit, maintained pitch rather than in the local park during dark and cold months. Our community has been hit hard by the cost of living crisis, so the additional resource will ensure members continue to benefit from playing football, and from the wider community around our club, for low or no cost.

More Than Existing: Community Binder Project - £967
 

This grant would be used to give free binders to low-income trans people, with people of colour and people with disabilities being prioritised. Recipients will receive a free binder from Spectrum Outfitters UK of their choice OR two roles of trans tape alongside a PDF document talking about binder/trans tape safety/care/tips. Each applicant regardless of success will also receive a PDF document of trans/QTIPoC/LGBTQ+ disability community groups and resources.

We Are Explorers Bronze Art Award on HIV Stigma - £877

We Are Explorers is a youth-led arts based organisation for LGBTQ+ identifying and questioning young people aged 11-18. This means we have asked our young people how they would like to apply for this funding and how we could focus on educating others on HIV stigma. Our young people produce a lot of artwork as their group is based in an art gallery, and they would like to achieve their Bronze Arts Award by exploring HIV+ positive artists such as Derek Jarman, Keith Haring and Adrienne Seed. This would include researching the artists, producing their own artwork inspired by these artists and visiting art venues such as Manchester Art Gallery to see the garden inspired by Derek Jarman. They would also like to invite a living artist with HIV to do a question and answer session with them, as we have done similarly with gay vicar Augustine Tanner-Ihm in 2022 when they were exploring themes of LGBTQ and religion. On World Aids Day 2024, we will exhibit the young peoples' work at The Turnpike in an event open to the gallery, aiming to both celebrate the young peoples' achievements and to raise awareness of HIV stigma in our local area. This will raise awareness of HIV to our wider community, boost our young peoples' confidence and help them achieve a nationally recognised qualification in the arts.

GLOSS. - £1,000

Created by two passionate queer people of colour, GLOSS aims to revolutionise the club night experience, centring and representing marginalised communities in a space that has often been dominated by white males. With a commitment to fostering community, self-expression, and celebration, GLOSS is set to become a haven for those seeking acceptance, diversity, and unbridled fun.

Creators of GLOSS, let's call them Misty & Tyron, share a vision of creating a club night that goes beyond mere entertainment. Both having faced the challenges of navigating spaces that felt exclusionary, they decided to forge their own path and create a safe haven for everyone - particularly for those who are often overlooked or sidelined in mainstream clubbing.

Diversity and inclusivity are at the core of GLOSS. The grant will allow them to create a shining beacon, a gloss that illuminates the beauty of queer POC culture. The aim is not to exclude allies, but to ensure they understand the space is not solely for their occupancy; it's a space where they can join, support, and uplift marginalized voices, while also being mindful of their privileges.

Orpheus and Eurydice R&D - £1,000

The play, written by Black Non-binary theatre maker Maz Hedgehog, imagines Orpheus and Eurydice as a lesbian couple trying to build a lasting love out of their respective trauma. Torn apart by a hate crime, Orpheus refuses to let death be the end. But in refusing to accept the inevitable, she loses so much more than her partner. This play is a love letter to butch/femme relationships and queer friendships, exploring how love leaves us both uniquely fulfilled and uniquely vulnerable.

The grant will fund the R&D of the play and will provide space to explore the themes of the play - such as trauma, community, intimacy and grief - in collaboration with a director and cast of actors. The R&D will culminate in a community sharing which will invite queer people of colour to engage with the piece and discuss the themes therein. This will not only provide space for multiple marginalised queer people to discuss how we navigate these ideas, but it will support the career of a Black queer theatre maker, enabling Maz to work at a larger scale than previously possible.

Tick Box - £950

This grant is to explore Tick Box: a new piece of interdisciplinary performance that explores what it feels to be queer, neurodivergent & plus size; which boxes do we tick in life; which do we feel we have to tick and which parts of us do we feel we have to hide in certain situations.

It’s a piece primarily for other queer individuals, showing ultimately that we don’t need to mask parts of ourselves. An evening to inspire and a safe space for us all to feel comfortable. I want to tell this story as I think there’s a gap in the industry for stories from and about neurodivergence in the LGBTQ+ community, I want to help change this.

Within this work I want to utilise sounds, projections and textures in this piece to create a safe, comfortable space that is accessible. This grant would be used for the beginning part of this project; helping to fund the initial first week of R&D of me and a queer director working in a space to develop the idea and start building it from the script to on its feet; exploring the audience, reach and possibilities.

Homos and Houmus - £1,000

On September 30th 2023, we will host a cabaret and performance evening at Islington Mill, Salford. This will be held in partnership with Partisan, a space for independent, community-led DIY and cultural projects; and Queer Jewish Collective (QJC), a new place where Queer Jews can meet, socialise, chat, drink coffee and build community. The evening will include a social dinner hosted by Queer Jewish Collective for people to get to know each other beforehand.

Artists will be both artists from Manchester and from around the UK. Hosted by Chanukah Lewinksy, Rami Yasir, poet Ellie Silver, comedian Eve Ginsburg, theatre performer Chaya Love and drag open mic DJ TamTam. Expect Pop-ups, Jewish matchmaking, art making, and a welfare and chill out space. The grant from Manchester Pride will be allocated exclusively to paying artists and covering travel costs.

Equal Writes - £1,000

Switch MCR and Polari aim to provide a platform for marginalised voices within the LGBTQ+ community in Manchester. We propose a workshop to be held at HOME, dedicated to exploring and documenting the experiences and challenges of the present-day LGBTQ+ community, with a special focus on QTIPOC, Trans people, and LGBTQ+ disabled individuals. Our workshop aims to create an environment of inclusion and discussion, allowing for a collaborative exchange of ideas that can inform both community and policy measures aimed at enhancing the quality of life and well-being of LGBTQ+ individuals in Manchester.

Aunty Audi and the Indian Drag Queen- £1,000

Aunty Gudi & The Indian Drag Queen is a play that will be shown at turn fest in January. The play will bring to attention topics around racism, and the challenges the QTIPOC face within the Asian Community. The play will be promoted through personal and professional networks and social media. The play will show representation at its best using actors and drag queens.

Queens of the desert - A queer cabaret - £950

The grant will be used to support the development and rehearsal process for our upcoming show “Queen of the Desert a Queer Cabaret”, which will celebrate Manchester’s LGBTQIA+ community as part of LGBT+ History Month in February. The cabaret features drag, music, burlesque and poetry, with cabaret artists developing stories that are interwoven to songs to tackle intersectional topics that affect the wider LGBTQIA+ communities.

“Queens of the Desert'', was a work-in-progress showcase in August 2023 for one of our Artist Development Scheme for LGBTQIA+ artists during Manchester Pride celebrations. The project was proudly developed in collaboration with Sonata Piano & Cabaret Lounge and promoted by Manchester Pride. The grant will support a full-scale production, and further develop the material produced to reflect the diversity of the LGBTQIA+ community, and Manchester, and the creatives include those who identify as working-class, QTIPOC, neurodivergent, trans, non-binary and disabled. This grant willcover rehearsals, commissioning and developing high quality performances as well as contributing to marketing costs. The event will raise awareness, and fundraise for the Trans Mutual Aid Fund.