Hundreds Gather In Manchester To Show Solidarity For Orlando

In a show of solidarity with the people of Orlando and with LGBT people everywhere, hundreds gathered at Canal Street, Manchester today. Similar gatherings also took place in a number of cities across the UK to mourn the dead and to support the living. Canal Street in my home city of Manchester is a sort of hub for the local LGBT community and more popularly known as ‘the gay village’ – housing a number of gay bars and restaurants. There’s an established history (tradition?) of vandalising the ‘Canal Street’ sign in the area by removing the ‘C’. Got it? There you go. I went along to show my support and join in the hand holding. Hundreds of people gathered to hold hands and form a human chain around the area, culminating in applause: [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://www.gspellchecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Clapping.mp4"][/video] It’s a symbolic gesture I know, but I do think these things can be meaningful. It’s a way of showing fascistic theocrats that LGBT people will not be bullied into hiding who they are from the world. It’s also a way for non-LGBT people like myself to show my fellow humans that I stand with them against those who wish to do them harm. So many people turned up that the chain had to expand to adjacent streets.

  Stephen Knight is host of The #GSPodcast. You can listen to The Godless Spellchecker Podcast here, and support it by becoming a patron here.