Pride?

The august bank holiday weekend sees Pride hit Manchester as it has done every year (I think) for the last twenty years. I don't always go but this year I am doing and it's already tinged with nostalgia for me.

On Sunday night Paul Cons, nightclub promoter, is hosting Flesh at Fac 251. Flesh was a gay dance night that was held monthly at the Hacienda during the first half of the nineties and it's where Chris and I met for the first time fourteen years ago. I have never seen the likes of flesh anywhere else in the UK and although I only went a handful of times I loved it. It was a heady mix of glamour and hard nosed clubbing; it was dressed up and it was dressed down; it was cool yet it was warm and friendly; I felt that I could wear whatever the hell I wanted to (and I generally did) and feel totally comfortable rubbing shoulders with scally gays, drag queens and straight blokes. Flesh came to an end in 1997 as I remember.

This weekend's venue, as I have mentioned, is Fac 251. This too brings back memories for me as I used to know it as Paradise Factory and I can confidently say that in the mid nineties this was the best nightclub in Manchester. I practically lived there from September 1995 for about two years and it's where I saw Chris for the first time - one week before we actually met down the road at the Hacienda.

So you can understand why I feel somewhat nostalgic and a little bit excited about Sunday night. As for the rest of the Pride weekend - well we shall see.

Throughout the years my opinion of Pride (or Mardi Gras as it was known back in the day in Manchester) has changed. At various times I have been on a parade float, worked behind the bar of one of the bars in the village, actively avoided the entire event and been a willing visitor.

I read this on Twitter today: "@Will_Hoe Re: Pride - don't get me wrong, I'm very proud to be gay. However, my pride doesn't manifest in vodka, cocaine, vanity and random sex. :)"

This got me thinking. A line that I have always used with regard to Pride is that I don't like drinking warm beer, out of a plastic glass, on an overcrowded street. On recent reflection I think that both of us are guilty of missing the point.

Over the years Pride has become less politicised and more obviously a big party and I for one think it is important to bring the political agenda back to the fore.

I have been lucky enough to live in Manchester and London where on the whole being gay is not a problem for most people - in fact in the industries I worked in it was commonplace. Let's not forget though that whilst gay people are mostly accepted in Britain's big cities, gay men and women are still victims of violent crime for no other reason than their sexual orientation.

Then remember those people that may live in smaller towns who still, in this day and age, feel that they must hide who they are for fear of rejection by family, friends, colleagues & community or worse, fear of violence. This still happens to many people in Britain and will continue to do so. I believe that Pride should have many functions and I believe an important one is to encourage acceptance through awareness. This must reach beyond the cities that the Pride events occur in to be really effective and I believe that the media is key to doing this. In raising awareness, as well as helping to make homosexuality acceptable in communities, it can let gay people who don't feel comfortable being open about it know that there is somewhere that they can go to meet other gay people and be themselves without fear of reprisal.

Another, often forgotten issue, which I think is of equal importance and I think Pride should be highlighting, is the struggles of gay men and women in countries where it is still illegal to be gay. Countries where human rights are breached and where a gay person can be sent to prison or even executed because of their sexual orientation.

Pride has a part to play in raising awareness of these struggles as well as lobbying the UK government to put political pressure on such countries as Iran or Cameroon.

There is, of course, an element of this kind of action within the parade but I see it is sorely lacking within the consciousness of many of the people that attend Pride and that is a shame.

Pride can be a drink and drug fuelled shag fest but it can also be a real and strong force for change and for good.

Long live Pride.