Summer of Mancunian Pride
September 2023
The summer may have been a wash out this year but that didn't stop Building Equality Greater Manchester from showing their pride and support for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Sparkle Weekend
July
We are proud sponsors of Sparkle, the National Transgender Charity, and for this year's weekend event, we set up stall and spoke to lots of lovely people and their families about what we do to break down the barriers and drive inclusivity in the built environment industry. We stand with our trans colleagues, friends and family. We want to make our industry a safe space for trans people to be their authentic and true selves.
At the festival, friends of Building Equality got to showcase their new designs for the new Transgender Monument in Sackville Gardens, as the last one sadly burnt down during Pride Weekend 2022. It was a great opportunity to see the plans and how the new larger, more interactive monument will fit in the space.
Manchester Pride Weekend
August
Wedding bells rang out across Manchester over the August Bank Holiday weekend as Manchester Pride celebrated ten years since the Equal Marriage Act.
Lifting the veil on equal love, we joined the thousands marching through the city centre streets, following the iconic ‘Gay’CB. Having fun with the wedding and dancefloor theme, we dressed up the JCB with just married bunting, disco balls and replica tin cans in the trans flag colours that could be pulled along. Over 60 representatives from different companies in the built environment industry across the North came together to celebrate the anniversary and raise awareness of the lack of equal marriage rights still facing some of our LGBTQIA+ friends, family and colleagues. This includes non-binary people not being recognised, benefits being removed from disabled people and people needing a Gender Recognition Certificate to marry in their authentic gender.
“Manchester Pride weekend is a time we can all come together and celebrate LGBTQIA+ joy and think about the obstacles we still need to overcome in a world that is facing more homophobia and transphobia. We can’t thank Hays enough for hosting our Pre-Parade Breakfast where we were adorned with prosecco, croissants and glitter. It was a great way to kick start the day before making our way through the cheering crowds along the parade route.”
- Kathleen Harrison
Senior Associate Director at Jacobs and Co-Chair Building Equality (GM)
We also held our Annual Outreach Day the day before the Parade. Instead of our usual Exchange Square spot, we parked up the JCB on Market Street to talk to people about the changing attitudes and perceptions in the industry.
“We want to make people aware of the work we are doing to make our industry more inclusive and safer for people to be their true authentic self. Being present and visible on one of Manchester’s busiest streets allowed us to network and meet lots of different people, including a group of young lads who wanted advice on how to support their friend in coming out to his parents.”
- Chris Bradshaw
Senior Town Planner at Tetra Tech and Co-Chair Building Equality (GM)
A big thank you to all of the people and their companies who have supported us this summer!
AECOM. AMEY. ARCADIS. ARUP. ATKINS. BDP. CIOB. FLANNERY. HAYS. HILTI. ICE. JACOBS. MOTT MACDONALD. RIDER LEVETT BUCKNALL. STANTEC. TETRA TECH.