See Meetings and Events for more details.
Many thanks to Polly, the manager of the bar, for his generosity in providing us with a room.

Christmas  Get Together

Dec 1 2007. Our Christmas meeting was an informal Get Together for parents and friends to socialise and celebrate Christmas and a very successful year for Manchester Parents Group. There were nibbles and drinks.

Icebreakers Meeting

January 16 2008. Sue, Dave and Lois gave a presentation about Manchester Parents Group and the work we do and told their stories at the Icebreakers  meeting at the Lesbian and Gay Foundation . Icebreakers is a group for men who are coming out or who are new to Manchester. The meeting was attended by about 20 men, between the ages of 18 to 66

Sugar & Spice

Feb 1 2008 Lois attended the above womens event at the Lesbian and Gay Foundation. It was a chance to network and distribute information about Manchester Parents Group.

Interview for website

Feb 2008 Christine & her son Adrian were interviewed about their story for Fifty Forward website. You can listen to the interview or visit the FiftyForward website for more information.

Civic Reception for Manchester Parents Group 21st anniversary

Manchester Parents Group officially celebrated it’s 21st Anniversary on November 24th 2007 with a Civic Reception at the city’s magnificent Victorian Town Hall.

The event was hosted by The Lord Mayor of Manchester and the Lady Mayoress and celebrated the many years of support the group has provide for parents and family members of LGB people.

On arrival the many guests were given a warm welcome and gathered in the ante room for drinks after which we were escorted into the very grand Reception Hall by the Lord Mayor’s Master of Ceremonies. Then began the formal proceedings.

The Lord Mayor gave a welcome speech and thanked everyone for attending.

The following are some extracts from his speech.

“Manchester Parents Group was set up to challenge the misunderstanding and fear surrounding the ‘coming out’ process and to help people come to terms with the decision of a friend or family member to announce that they were lesbian, gay or bisexual.

Manchester City Council is tremendously proud of the success of all our diverse communities, and in particular our lesbian and gay communities, who often contribute so well to our strong cultural, friendly and bohemian identity as a City.

The City Council is rightly proud to celebrate the success of our family members and friends of lesbian and gay people, who have supported the brave decisions to ‘come out’ and lead a proud and positive life in Manchester.

We all appreciate the importance of strong parenthood in our lives and the support our sons and daughters require from us. Manchester Parents Group represents the scaffolding beneath this concept of strong parenthood and we applaud the contribution the group has played in so many people’s lives.

Today we recognise and celebrate all of your achievements, the spirit of Manchester, and the spirit of our vibrant gay community.

Thank you and good luck with the next 21 years!”

Laurie Wright then responded on behalf of Manchester Parents Group. He thanked the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress for hosting the reception and Manchester City Council for all the help and support they have given the group over the years. He also thanked the many parents, family members and friends for attending the celebration He then invited Cath Johnson (formerly Hall), the only remaining founder of Manchester Parents Group, to say a few words.

Cath spoke movingly about the beginnings of Manchester Parents Group in 1986 and how three mothers of gay sons, Joyce, Joan and herself met while helping at Manchester Gay Youth Group. The young people often asked for help “coming out” to their parents and it soon became evident there was a need for a support group for parents of gay children. So they worked tirelessly and against all odds to set up the group that was to be Manchester Parents Group, the first such group in the UK.

Cath said, “Brenda Oakes took over the group when I became involved in setting up The Albert Kennedy Trust to help homeless gay young people and Joyce became ill and unable to attend the meetings. She continued her inspirational leadership until her retirement in 2002 “

Cath stressed how difficult and different things were in the early days and just how much progress has been made to improve the lives of gay young people and their families over the years. She thanked all the parents who have worked so hard to
make this happen.

The last speaker was Councillor Paul Fairweather who spoke in support of the group. Paul is a long time friend of Manchester Parents Group and remembered fondly the group in the early days when he was a young man campaigning for gay rights in Manchester.

He recalled Manchester Parents Group involvement in campaigning and in particular the Rally in Albert Square against Section 28 when Joyce received rapturous applause from 20,000 people when she announced “ I am the proud mother of a gay son”

He also remembered our meeting with Baroness Young at the House of Lords re equal age of consent which was organised by Brenda and the many protest rallies we have taken part in.

He said that sadly both Joyce and Joan passed away in 2006 and it was fitting that we should remember them and pay tribute to them during our celebration.

He finished by saying how much better life is for young gay people today than when he was growing up and he thanked Manchester Parents Group for the part they played in bringing this about.

Bouquets of flowers were then presented to Cath and Brenda in recognition of all their hard work. I was very touched, and somewhat taken aback, to also receive a bouquet as a belated 70th birthday present.!

This concluded the official part of the event and we were then free to relax, partake of more drinks, and enjoy a delicious buffet meal whilst talking to our many friends.

What a fantastic end to a year of celebration for Manchester Parents Group.

Student Pride

June 16 2007. The third National Student Pride took place at Manchester University with students from throughout the UK attending.
on behalf of Manchester Parents Group Christine and Lois had an information stall.

Gaydio

August 23 2007. Inga and Christine were interviewed by Brian Day about our group and the work we do.

Members of Manchester Parents Group have been interviewed twice on Gaydio and on both occasions the experience was very positive and helpful.

It was a good opportunity to promote our organisation and the work we do to the wider LGBT community, and to disseminate information to enable people to access our services more readily.

Manchester Pride Parade.

August 25 2007. The year 2007 is a very special year for Manchester Parents Group

This year we are proud to be celebrating 21 years supporting parents of lesbian, gay and bisexual sons/daughters.

As part of our celebrations we had a 21st birthday party float in the Manchester Pride Parade and what a great time we had!

The atmosphere was amazing and the reception we received from the crowd was unbelievable. We enjoyed every minute, and we danced til we were fit to drop!!

We had  every good reason to celebrate. Great progress has been made with regard to equality for lesbian and gay people in the last few years,  and we feel privileged to have been  able to work towards this for the last 21years. All the hard work has paid off.

Don’t let’s forget though, there is still work to be done to improve the lives of lesbian and gay people and their families.

Manchester Pride Lifestyle Expo

August 25-27 2007. Once again we had an information stand in Manchester's gay village over the Bank Holiday weekend. We had a steady stream of people with various issues coming to us for help and advice. This left us with no doubt in our minds that our  organisation is still very much needed, so we intend to continue our work, maybe not for another 21 years, but for some time to come!

Government publishes new guidance to help schools tackle homophobic Bullying

September 21 2007. Stonewall welcomes today’s publication by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) of groundbreaking new guidance for teachers: ‘Preventing and Responding to Homophobic Bullying in Schools’
.
The pioneering guidance, commissioned from Stonewall by the DCSF, provides school governors, heads, teachers and other staff with practical information - including lesson plans - about how to prevent and respond to homophobic bullying.
 
The School Report, Stonewall’s recently-published research into homophobic bullying in Britain’s secondary schools, demonstrated that almost two thirds of young gay people have experienced homophobic bullying. Ninety seven per cent of gay pupils regularly hear homophobic insults at school; three in ten of the 1100 young people surveyed said that it was adults in schools who carry out the bullying.
 
Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, said: “Homophobic insults should be viewed as seriously as racism. Even casual use of homophobic language in schools can create an atmosphere that isolates young people and can be the forerunner of more serious forms of bullying.”

Ben Summerskill, Stonewall Chief Executive, said: “Stonewall is proud to have been commissioned by the DCSF to produce this guidance. The life chances of children bullied at school are often permanently diminished. This tool represents an essential and much welcome step forward in the development of joined-up thinking that will help schools and teachers address all forms of bullying effectively.”
 
Harriet Harman MP, Secretary of State for Equality, said: “Homophobic bullying creates an ugly climate of intimidation and makes it harder for young people to come out. Teachers at schools can tackle homophobic bullying and this guidance will help them.”

Samaritans AGM

March 26 2007. As the parent of a gay son Christine was invited to be guest speaker at the AGM at the Bury branch of the Samaritans.

She spoke about how a family can be affected emotionally and how it might respond when a son or daughter "comes out"

The talk was received with interest and followed by in depth questions and some very interesting conversations.

A copy of the talk was left for future training purposes along with information about MPG and FFLAG

Home Office Conference

May 10 2007. Over 200 delegates from a range of public sector and voluntary organisations throughout the country attended  the Home Office sponsored Spectrum “Invisibility” LGBT conference in Manchester

Dave and Laurie facilitated two FFLAG workshops during the day which were well attended by over 30 delegates.  In addition to explaining the history and  purpose of FFLAG and MPG, they told “their own” stories and using information supplied by GIRES gave the delegates some insight into the issues faced by family members of transgendered people.  They were grateful for Christine’s input, particularly on religious issues, when she attended one of the workshops as a delegate.

Exceeding Expectations Launch

May 17 2007. Lois attended the launch of Exceeding Expectations which is a multi agency partnership between Manchester City Council Childrens Services, The Lesbian and Gay Foundation, Manchester Healthy School Partnerships, Albert Kennedy Trust and Hope Theatre Company to combat homophobia and homophobic bullying in Manchester Schools. The event took place at Manchester Town Hall.

There were guest speakers and an excerpt from a piece of theatre in Education drama. The project will take place over the next three years.

Christmas party and presentation to Brenda Oakes

Dec 2006. We had our usual Christmas Get Together and buffet  for families and friends at Taurus. This year it was an extra special celebration. Sue Allen (chair of FFLAG trustees) and her husband Bob came up from Bristol to welcome Brenda Oakes as newly appointed Vice President of FFLAG. They presented Brenda with a certificate and thanked her for all  her hard work in the past for MPG and FFLAG.  It was a very pleasant and enjoyable afternoon.

Tackling prejudice related bullying

Jan 26 2007. Christine and Inga attended the above seminar organised by NASUWT ( National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers) at the Lowry Hotel in Manchester

The main speakers were:

• Chris Keates, NASUWT General Secretary
• Simon Lee, Senior Education Officer, Stonewall
• Dr Emma Halliwell, School of Psychology, University of the West of England
• Sue Tabner, Outreach Co-ordinator, Childline North West
• Francine Bower Regional Co-ordinator (North) National Autistic Society
• Anusha Kesavanathan, Young Person Co-ordinator, Philip Lawrence Awards

The panel introductions were followed by a lively debate, discussions and questions.

After lunch there were three workshops:

• Tackling homophobic bullying in schools and colleges in to which we had a good input.
• Tackling disability related bullying in scools and colleges
• Tackling bullying on the grounds of body image in schools and colleges.

It was an interesting day and lots of useful contacts were made.

Presentation at Icebreakers meeting

Feb 21 2007. Icebreakers is a group for gay and bisexual men who are "coming out" or who are new to Manchester.

Sue and Dave were invited to one of their meetings to give a talk about issues faced by parents of gay children and the workof Manchester Parents Group.The presentation was favourably received by the 30 or so gay men aged between 18 and 50 plus who attended the meeting

Radio Programme

Feb 27th 2007 Inga was interviewed on Gaydio, a Manchester based gay radio station, about her experiences as the mother of a gay son and Manchester Parents Group.

Manchester Pride 2006

August 18-28. Once again Manchester Pride was a 10 day programme of gay culture, community, heritage and sporting events culminating in the Big Weekend over the Aug Bank Holiday. The biggest parade ever in the history of Manchester Pride took place on Saturday Aug 26th and Manchester Parents Group had a birthday celebration float for our 20th anniversary. Unfortunately, the clutch failed and our lorry ground to a halt shortly after the start of the parade. This was somewhat of an anticlimax!. However, not to be daunted, we walked the rest of the way carrying our banner. We hope to celebrate our 21st birthday next year in greater style!

We also had an information stall in the Lifestyle Expo in the gay village over the three days of the Aug Bank Holiday and made good use of our new display board.

Two radio interviews.

September 11 2006. Christine was interviewed on G M Radio about her comments to parents whose son/daughter might just have "come out" and on September 13th on the work of Manchester Parents Group.

As a follow up to these two programmes Christine wrote to GM Radio enclosing a photo of our Pride float and telling them about our 20th anniversary.

Launch of "Stand Up for Us"

October 10. 2006 The launch of the Department for Education and Skills Healthy Schools resource "Stand Up For Us- challenging homophobia in schools" took place at Bury Teachers Centre.

The event organised by the Bury Anti Homophobic Bullying Group was very well received by the fifty or so teachers and school nurses who attended from schools across the Borough.

FFLAG and MPG materials attracted a considerable amount of attention, resulting in several interesting conversations and rapidly diminishing stocks of booklets and leaflets! It was a very rewarding event

"Coming Out" workshop

Oct 17 2006. Sue, Dave, Nicki, and Laurie gave a presentation about Manchester Parents Group and the services we offer to young people and their parents at the above workshop at Salford University. Also taking part were members of Icebreakers a social group for people "coming out"

Romeo & Julian, Rosemary and Juliet

October 30 2006. Margaret and Inga attended a performance of the above play at Lowton Civic Hall. It was delivered by young LGBT people from across Wigan with direction from Hope Theatre Company.

The theatrical performance was a clever adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet and was both challenging and very thought provoking. It explored the issues of homophobia as faced by young people by families and peers. Alongside this another youth project delivered a piece covering all areas of Hate Crime, demonstrating their understanding of the issues and offering the audience recommendations for action.

Prison Carers Group Open Day

November 8 2006. Inga had an information stall at Risley Prison Carers Group day which was organised for prison staff. Everyone was friendly and very interested in our information which was taken for display around the prison. It proved to be a worthwhile day with many interesting conversations and discussions.

Invisible Boundaries- Addressing Sexualities in Children's Worlds

November 10 2006. Christine and Inga attended the above seminar at Manchester University. The purpose of the seminar was to bring together researchers, practitioners, policy makers, young people to discuss how LGBT issues impact on children and families within and beyond school.

Rathbone Training Day

November 30 2006. MPG and FFLAG were represented at a Rathbone Training Day in Bury. Rathbone works closely with Connexions in secondary schools.

Attendees were very interested in the work we do, especially in the area of homophobic bullying. Leaflets, booklets and other information were very much appreciated.

Towns Women's Guild Flixton

April 6 2006. Inga gave a talk to members of Flixton Towns Women's Guild about the work of Manchester Parents Group and FFLAG, and the issues parents and families face when a child "comes out" as gay.

The meeting concluded with a question and answer session which generated some lively discussion and which could have continued much longer if we had not had to vacate the premises at 4pm!!

National Women's Register (NWR) Conference

April 21-23.  The above National Conference "Making a Difference" was held at Manchester University and was attended by approx 300 delegates from NWR groups throughout the UK

Inga Rhodes gave a presentation entitled "Family Outing" She spoke about her feelings when her son "came out " as gay to her twenty five years ago at the age of 16, and her consequent work for Manchester Parents Group helping other parents of gay children on their own personal journey of understanding and acceptance

Other speakers were:

Colin Parry OBE who suffered the death of a son in the IRA bombing in Warrington and who spoke about "Good from Evil" Colin set up the world renowned Peace Centre in Warrington and he now works tirelessly for peace.

Maurice Stewart a black man brought up in Moss Side Manchester who has worked with disadvantaged young people aged twelve to twenty one for 30 years His presentation was a race awareness story "The Cuckoos Nest"

Professor Dian Donnai CBE Professor of Medical Genetics at Manchester University whose research includes mechanisms underlying birth defect syndromes gave a presentation entitled "Genes-you can't afford to ignore it"

Penny Dean who shared her life experiences of being born a dwarf-"Small in a Tall World", and coping with marriage, having children and societies attitude to difference.

There were also "on site" workshops ranging from  belly dancing, clog dancing to  book discussion, poetry, origami etc etc and "off site" workshops"-visits to places of interest in Manchester eg The Lowry and Salford Quays, Manchester Art gallery, Manchester Museum of Science and Industry etc etc

It was an impressive, inspiring and thought provoking weekend  if somewhat exhausting!

Civil Partnership Seminar

April 27. Christine and Inga attended a Civil Partnership Seminar at Manchester Business School which was attended by research students from Universities from throughout the UK and  members of interested organisations.

Professor Carole Smart and Dr Brian Heaphy of The Morgan Centre for the Study of Relationships and Personal Life Manchester University reported on their recent research "Gay and Lesbian marriage; an exploration of the meanings and significance of legitimating same sex relationships"

This was followed by questions and discussion.

The National anti Bullying Alliance

May 2006. The "Addressing  Homophobic Bullying" sub group of the "Bury Metropolitan Tackling Hate Crime Working Party gave a presentation at the recent NW regional meeting in Bury of the "National Anti Bullying Alliance"

The presentation included a brief description of the work of MPG and FFLAG  and our collaboration with Stonewall and LGBT Youth Scotland in the "Education for All" initiative and also our work to tackle homophobic bullying wherever it occurs.

Delegates were very interested in the display of FFLAG and MPG materials and information. Booklets, hand outs etc were gathered together and were removed by individuals at an alarming rate! Very rewarding! 

Tribute to Joyce Layland

This is a tribute to Joyce Layland who sadly  passed away on 3rd May 2006.

 Joyce was one of the founders of the Manchester Parents Group and worked hard to establish and maintain links with the LGB community in Manchester for many years. Joyce helped countless parents over the years and campaigned tireless for equality. Our condolences go to her family and friends.

I first met Joyce in February 1988, at a protest march in Manchester against the much despised Section 28 which the Conservative Government was then passing through Parliament.

What stands out about that march was the moment when we passed the group of parents carrying placards of support and the extraordinary reaction of the people marching near us. They clapped, cheered and ran from the march to hug and kiss the stalwart band of mums and a dad. I little knew at the time that these people would become my dear colleagues and friends. Joyce was one of this group but her image was further etched on my mind when, later that same afternoon, she spoke from the rostrum to the rally in Albert square.

I was recently talking to Brenda Oakes about this moment and she reminded me of what Joyce said, it was: “I am the proud mother of my gay son” The whole square had erupted with the cheers and applause of 20,000 people. In fact Brenda told me that at the time Joyce had felt angry that a normal comment from a parent should have had such an effect. It demonstrated the loneliness and fear of parental rejection that many gay, lesbian and bisexual people had.

So Joyce, as a member of the inspirational Manchester Parents Group was already immersed in working against the inequality suffered by lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

Joyce and Cath Hall organised the first Manchester Parents Group seminars for the several parent support groups around the country, and it was at one of these in 1989 when we first discussed the topic of an “umbrella organisation” for these groups.

In January 1990 Joyce came up with the name “Family Pride” for our new “umbrella organisation” A steering committee was formed which set to work on the aims and formal structure in many meetings around the country. Joyce was the co-ordinator of Family Pride which metamorphosed into FFLAG in September 1991. Joyce stayed at the helm until October 1992. She was impatient as was I with some of the steering committee who thought her views were just too grandiose and her wishes for the launch of FFLAG and a video were really rather wild dreams. Of course Joyce was absolutely right and FFLAG has done so much more than Joyce had planned. Ill health forced her to pass on the baton to Brenda Oakes who carried it on with similar brilliance.

Joyce was warm, brave, clever and politically sophisticated. She made a great contribution to the movement for equality for lesbian gay and bisexual people and her inspired leadership of FFLAG’s beginning is remembered with love and gratitude.

Frances Nicol ( FFLAG Trustee)

Towns Women's Guild Flixton

April 6. Inga gave a talk to members of Flixton Towns Womens Guild about the work of Manchester Parents Group and FFLAG, and the issues parents and families face when a child "comes out" as gay.

The meeting concluded with a question and answer session which generated some lively discussion and which could have continued much longer if we had not had to vacate the premises at 4pm!!

National Women's Register (NWR) Conference

April 21-23 The above National Conference "Making a Difference" was held at Manchester University and was attended by approx 300 delegates from NWR groups throughout the UK

Inga Rhodes gave a presentation entitled "Family Outing" She spoke about her feelings when her son "came out " as gay to her twenty five years ago at the age of 16, and her consequent work for Manchester Parents Group helping other parents of gay children on their own personal journey of understanding and acceptance

Other speakers were:

Colin Parry OBE who suffered the death of a son in the IRA bombing in Warrington and who spoke about "Good from Evil" Colin set up the world renowned Peace Centre in Warrington and he now works tirelessly for peace.

Maurice Stewart a black man brought up in Moss Side Manchester who has worked with disadvantaged young people aged twelve to twenty one for 30 years His presentation was a race awareness story "The Cuckoos Nest"

Professor Dian Donnai CBE Professor of Medical Genetics at Manchester University whose research includes mechanisms underlying birth defect syndromes gave a presentation entitled "Genes-you can't afford to ignore it"

Penny Dean who shared her life experiences of being born a dwarf-"Small in a Tall World", and coping with marriage, having children and societies attitude to difference.

There were also "on site" workshops ranging from belly dancing, clog dancing to book discussion, poetry, origami etc etc and "off site" workshops"-visits to places of interest in Manchester eg The Lowry and Salford Quays, Manchester Art gallery, Manchester Museum of Science and Industry etc etc

It was an impressive, inspiring and thought provoking weekend if somewhat exhausting!

Civil Partnership Seminar

April 27. Christine and Inga attended a Civil Partnership Seminar at Manchester Business School which was attended by research students from Universities from throughout the UK and members of interested organisations.

Professor Carole Smart and Dr Brian Heaphy of The Morgan Centre for the Study of Relationships and Personal Life Manchester University reported on their recent research "Gay and Lesbian marriage; an exploration of the meanings and significance of legitimating same sex relationships"

This was followed by questions and discussion.

The National anti Bullying Alliance

May 2006. The "Addressing Homophobic Bullying" sub group of the "Bury Metropolitan Tackling Hate Crime Working Party gave a presentation at the recent NW regional meeting in Bury of the "National Anti Bullying Alliance"

The presentation included a brief description of the work of MPG and FFLAG and our collaboration with Stonewall and LGBT Youth Scotland in the "Education for All" initiative and also our work to tackle homophobic bullying wherever it occurs.

Delegates were very interested in the display of FFLAG and MPG materials and information. Booklets, hand outs etc were gathered together and were removed by individuals at an alarming rate! Very rewarding!

Homophobic bullying training session with peer support mentoring group

March 8 2006. The Tackling Homophobic Bullying sub group of Bury's Hate Crime Working Party held a very successful training session, on homophobic bullying, with the Peer Support Mentoring Group at Parrenthorn High School, Prestwich.

About twenty students attended. They were interested and insightful commenting very favourably afterwards on how much they had learned from the session.

This is the first event of its kind in a Bury Metro school. Hopefully it will not be the last.

Help My Child is Gay

February 7 2006. Christine gave a talk to the Heaton Deanery Synod at St Elisabeth's, Reddish entitled, "Help my Child is Gay" This described the work of  Manchester Parents Group and FFLAG in some detail, and was well received. There was time afterwards for questions and comments

People were very interested in the display of information about MPG and FFLAG There was information also about the projects which FFLAG is involved with eg-homophobic bullying, ethnic minority groups, Education For All.

Following the above, and because the Revd Canon Philip Groves has been recently appointed facilitator for the "Listening Process" across the Anglican Communion (ie "listening" to the experiences of Lesbian and gay people within the  Church of England) a copy of the above has been forwarded to him , to the Revd Stuart Millington, Area Dean of Bury and to each member of the House of Bishops-forty four in all!

Radio 4 Interview

February 16. Christine from Manchester Parents Group and Marie from Birmingham Parents Group were interview on Radio 4 Women's Hour about how their son's "came out" to them, how they felt then and how they feel now.

Thanks to the programme, which included interviews with Gay people, listeners should now have deeper understanding of what can be the real difficulties for Gay children and their parents in the "coming out" process.

The programme provided a wonderful opportunity also to highlight the work of FFLAG, the Parent Support groups and the dedicated input of our many volunteers.

Manchester Parents Group goes Skype

You can now speak to us directly using Skype to get instant help and support. Details are on the Contact Us page.

Raising Achievement: Tackling Homophobia

January 19th 2006. Jane represented FFLAG and Manchester Parents Group by presenting the parents’ perspective at a conference held jointly by Stockport Council and the Primary Care Trust. She was also involved in the organisation of the conference.  Mark Jennett was the key speaker and also the key adviser on the programme content.

It was aimed primarily at the PSHE teachers in all schools in the Stockport borough and most of the 120 people who attended were from Primary schools.

Jane had to follow two very emotional presentations – firstly some local case studies from young people and, secondly, a middle aged PSHE & Citizenship teacher who is gay, Liverpudlian and Jewish who was a lawyer before he started teaching a year ago in an East Manchester school (where 37 different languages are spoken and only one pupil has ever gone on to university!). He came out to the whole school within a few months and has never had cause to regret it. He encountered more prejudice from his middle class, Tory colleagues in his previous career!

The young people were the stars of the day as they spoke with great confidence about their experiences and how they are trying to help others through peer support groups at school and at the Stockport young people’s project. They joined in the workshops looking at attitudes and developing effective policies, as well as practical work around addressing homophobia and supporting young people. Most of them have experienced homophobia at school but have learnt to ‘deal with it’ and, in most cases, have improved things for their young peers.

As one of the workshop facilitators, Jane observed the effect that some of the young people had on some of the more experienced teachers and  was pleased that she'd been able to ‘introduce’ her daughter, Jess, as a 6 year old, to everyone in her presentation – she’s the cheeky looking schoolgirl in the FFLAG presentation portfolio. In his presentation, Mark Jennett told the delegates that most schools, especially Primary, would declare that they have no LGB pupils. When that photo was taken, neither Jess nor her Mum knew that she was gay so how could the school know?

The lunchtime break was very busy as she spoke to people collecting FFLAG booklets and mail order forms. A number of people were also attracted by the new display stand acquired by Manchester Parents Group - it’s big, it’s attractive, and it sends out a powerful message – and there were two family members who were interested in our monthly meetings.

All in all, it was an emotional and tiring, but very rewarding and worthwhile way to spend a day off from work!

Changing Attitude

November 2005. Changing Attitude of which Christine is a member, is an organisation which works towards the full acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people within the Anglican Communion.

Recently C.A (Changing Attitude) invited the Right Rev Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire in the Episcopal Church USA to it's tenth  anniversary celebrations in the UK.

Invited by CA northwest, Christine gave a talk to that group entitled- "Help My Child is Gay" This was advertised in Crux, the monthly Manchester diocesan magazine, which has a readership of about fifty thousand, along with a brief but quite detailed mention of MPG and FFLAG

The talk, the display of MPG and FFLAG materials, along with information about our work to tackle homophobic bullying were well received and led to a very interesting discussion and exchange of ideas afterwards.

Anti Bullying Week

November 21-25 2005 was National Anti Bullying Week.

It opened in Bury, with a conference, at the Teachers Training and Development Centre entitled "Children and Young Peoples Participation in tackling Bullying"

Amongst speakers representing the Local Authority, the Anti Alliance Bullying Alliance and Child Protection  were young people from two of the Borough's secondary schools. Some were actual victims of bullying, others reformed bullies and peer group.
mentors.

Howard Lawrenson from the Bolton Homophobic Bullying Forum facilitated three workshops each based on the teaching resource and video "Living It" Thirty six of the sixty or so delegates  to the conference attended.

Christine & Dave represented Manchester Parents Group They took along MPG's display board and a selection of MPG and FFLAG's material, in which there was a great deal of interest. Being present at each of Howard's workshops they were able to take part ion the discussion which formed a valuable part of Howard's presentations.

Christmas Party

December5th 2005 We had our Christmas party  at Taurus. It was great for families and friends to get together and socialise, and we were especially pleased to see so many young people. We enjoyed a  buffet  and we  were able to get drinks from the bar. The raffle was a great success, although some people seemed to win more than their fair share of prizes!! It was a great ending to a successful year.