Queerly Beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the power of love!
Manchester Pride is leading with love this year for our 2023 Parade theme, Queerly Beloved. Love for ourselves and love for LGBTQ+ communities.
Love is powerful! Acts of love and kindness, for ourselves and one another, has the power to resist hate against our communities and drive real change as we strive for LGBTQ+ liberation.
We’re calling upon our communities to celebrate love in all its forms. By choosing love over hate, especially for those more marginalised within our communities, we send a powerful message against the negativity reflected within politics, the media and harmful legislation.
The power of love was shown when the Marriage Equality act passed a decade ago. The theme Queerly Beloved aims to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of marriage equality in England and Wales. The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act was passed on 17th July 2013 (2014 in Scotland, and 2020 in Northern Ireland), enabling civil partners to convert their partnership to a marriage if they wish; and enabled individuals to change their legal gender without having to end their marriage.
Show the love in bringing this theme to life, think love hearts, roses and Cupid and his bow and arrow, or whatever love means to you. Or maybe you want to show off your best ‘Mother of the Pride’ outfit, why not carry flowers down the aisle which weaves its way through the streets of Manchester. You might want to come as newly weds, or even the ‘Mate of Honour’. The theme is completely open to your interpretation, as long as it leads with love.
The Manchester Pride Parade will celebrate the huge wins for our communities but also poses a question: how far have we really come? Globally, only 32 countries have legal recognition of same-sex marriage, and just last year we saw a huge rise in hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people in Greater Manchester alone.
So join us on Saturday August 26th 2023 in marching together with our community at the Manchester Pride Parade, and showing once again what the power of love can achieve.
About the Manchester Pride Parade
The Manchester Pride Parade is the city's biggest parade, with tens of thousands of LGBTQ+ people and allies gathering to march through the city for equality, grinding the city to a halt with thousands of people lining the streets to take in the spectacular sea of colours. If there is ever an opportunity to shout loud and proud about who we are and what our values are, it is at the Parade!
When was the first Manchester Pride Parade?
On 20th February 1988, a huge anti-Section 28 protest was held in Manchester. Over 20,000 people took to the streets to let their disquiet be heard.
At the time, it was one of the largest LGBTQ+ demonstrations ever to take place in the UK! This and many other protests around the globe paved the way for the Pride Parades we see around the world today.
Fast forward to present day, and Manchester continues to lead the way in the fight for LGBTQ+ liberation.
The Parade takes place on Saturday 26th August and commences at midday.
The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act was passed on 17th July 2013 (2014 in Scotland, and 2020 in Northern Ireland), enabling civil partners to convert their partnership to a marriage if they wish; and enabled individuals to change their legal gender without having to end their marriage.
We don’t facilitate individual entries, but we can support you in finding an organisation for you to join and walk with. Alternatively, you can join the Manchester Pride Parade Entry as a Parade Trouper as a Volunteer and we will be announcing details shortly.
We want to invite more LGBTQ+ organisations to join us to march through the streets of Manchester and so we have reviewed our entry categories for 2022 which will mean more LGBTQ+ organisations and groups will be able to participate for free.
When applying, please review the different categories below to see which category you should apply for:
New Category: LGBTQ+ Organisations:
Previously we had differentiated between LGBT+ or HIV community groups or organisations that do not receive any funding from any source and those that do. From 2022, all LGBTQ+ groups will be categorised as such where they receive funding or not. There has been a slight increase in cost to Commercial entries to subsidise smaller LGBTQ+ organisations taking part.
Non LGBTQ+ or Not for Profit:
A not-for-profit organisation or community group whose vision and mission is not focussed specifically around supporting LGBTQ+ people.
Public Sector:
Organisations providing all public services in the UK, from the emergency services and healthcare, education and social care to housing and refuse collection.
New Category: Greater Manchester Independent Business
We want to encourage our local communities to join the Parade but understand that there have been financial barriers in the past for small businesses based on Manchester to take part. Therefore, we have introduced a new category for Greater Manchester Independent Businesses and if you are unsure if you qualify then please contact us before applying.
Small Business:
Businesses that employ less than 50 people.
Commercial organisation:
Businesses that employ more than 50 people.
All participants in the Manchester Pride Parade must be a part of a registered group. We cannot facilitate people arriving on the day with previously registering. Please fill out an application form here.
