PROTEST! Unfinished Business: A Section 28 Assembly
Friday 25 September 1.00 – 4.30pm
People’s History Museum, Manchester
Section 28 may be gone but its story isn’t finished.
Section 28 was repealed. But legislation doesn’t simply disappear. Its traces remain in institutions, in bodies, in memories, in language, in culture, in education, in activism, and in the ways LGBTQIA+ communities continue to organise, resist and make space. What did it change? What did it leave behind? And what does its legacy mean for LGBTQIA+ communities now?
As the final event in IAP:MCR’s PROTEST! project, Unfinished Business will bring together artists, activists, academics, creative practitioners, makers, thinkers, writers and others to congregate, share ideas, ask questions, debate and explore the legacies of Section 28, and to ask what its unfinished business might be today.
Everybody welcome!
Following an open call for contributions, we are expecting a dynamic afternoon of engaging conversations and discussion. We would love to see you there.
Please join us. Light refreshments provided.
Tickets are free, but please reserve a place
Come and add your voice to the conversation. Section 28 is history — but the unfinished business is ours
End of Project Celebration
Sherpa-K at People's History Museum
Friday 25 September at 7.30pm
Join SHERPA K for a performance that will combine original songs and well-known favourites about protest, pride, and love.
Prepare for a vibrant musical evening, filling PHM’s historic Engine Hall with the diverse sounds of saxophone, flute, piano, double bass and more.
Throughout the evening:
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Explore Re/Assemble, our exhibition responding to the legacy of Section 28 through themes of protest, resilience and queer creativity.
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Discover banners on display from PHM’s collection that capture moments of protest, solidarity, and community in the ongoing fight for LGBTQIA+ equality in Gallery Two.
On Wednesday 26 August we presented this one off gala event as part of the amazing Scene Festival, as part of PROTEST! – Documenting Dissent, our two year National Lottery Heritage Fund supported project exploring Manchester’s queer protest history and the long shadow of Section 28.
Using Manchester's 1988 anti-Section 28 demonstration as the starting point, PROTEST! has gathered oral histories from LGBTQ+ activists, artists, teachers, organisers, and people whose lives were shaped by censorship and silence.
Across public events including work at HOME, Factory International, Royal Exchange Theatre and an exhibition curated by Jez Dolan at People’s History Museum - the project has explored queer memory as a living form of protest.
We showed two original short films: RE/ASSEMBLE and CONDENSATION
RE/ASSEMBLE combined original testimony of people who attended the march, or were directly affected by the legislation with contemporaneous footage of the event to deliver a moving account of the day and its ramifications.
Editor: David Martin
Original Footage: Nick Lansley
Composer: Anna Appleby
Performed by: Sherpa-K and Norrisette
CONDENSATION is a new magic-realist short film written and directed by Joshua Val Martin, premiering at the very festival that helped to make it. Set in 2010 Manchester, CONDENSATION follows a fresher wanting to attend the LGBT Society, but inherited silence and half-heard histories, born of Section 28, gather around him as a literal cloud.
This evening showcased the world premiere of both films, alongside wider celebrations of the PROTEST! project. This special event will be part gala premiere, part living archive, and above all a celebration of LGBTQ+ people who continue to resist through remembering.
Director and Screenwriter: Joshua Val Martin
Camera and Editor: Lee Baxter
Designer: Jez Dolan
Sound and Music: Ed Waring
Assistant Designer: Reuben Rowlands
Producer: David Martin
⭐️ SCENE: MANCHESTER’S LGBTQ+ FILM & TV FESTIVAL returns for the third year, bringing together some of the biggest names in television, film and culture for 8 days of screenings, panels, live comedy, parties and premieres across Manchester.