The Student entry to Manchester Pride Parade 2009 has been accepted!
All students are welcome to march under the banner: Reclaim the Scene: Pride is a Protest
Our message is: Putting the protest back into pride.
Our entry read:A protest to Reclaim the Scene from one based on body-idealism and drinking as the main part of pride to a community based scene that welcomes all LGBTQ people and provides spaces appropriate to them. For an accessible scene, not a cliquey lesbian and gay group.
Putting the protest back into pride- we do not have equality, never mind liberation! Let's celebrate what we have achieved and get more people involved in our future and current struggles.
Why is this important?
Last year we were told to tone down our political message in Pride. We were told that we were not allowed banners that read 'Pride is a Protest' or in any way criticised the Gay Village or Pride.
This year, we have been given a voice. We have been given a chance to let everyone know what we, as LGBTQ people and students want from Pride and from the village.
Protest works - the fact we have been accepted into the parade with a political message demonstrates that Manchester Pride is listening to us, that it is responding to our demands. This is fantastic!
But it's not quite enough. We still have to pay to go to Pride. Some people are too poor to be gay. The money raised from Pride isn't going to the LGBTQ people who need it the most, and Pride isn't a community event, it's not mobilising LGBTQ people to get involved in campaigning for our liberation.
Those are our demands, that is what our parade entry is about, this is why we want to Reclaim the Scene.
Get involved:
We don't like getting junk mail either. We'll only send you stuff for the various butterfly projects from the Reclaim The Scene caterpillar.
