Everyone at Manchester Pride is devastated by the damage to the National Trans Memorial, during the Manchester Pride Festival. We are sorry this happened on our watch and are in conversation with Sparkle to ensure that a new, resilient memorial is put in place.

Sackville Gardens is home to three significant memorials for our communities - the Beacon of Hope, the National Trans Memorial and a statue of Alan Turing - and it is important that those attending the Festival have free and open access to these during their Pride celebrations to reflect and pay their own tributes. 

On Sunday evening (28th August 2022) we were alerted to a fire at the National Trans Memorial, teams responded quickly and the fire was extinguished. 

In accordance with Health & Safety protocol, all incidents that happen at our events are investigated and reported on thoroughly and properly with the relevant stakeholders. The initial investigation from the Health & Safety Officer who attended the fire indicates that the fire was started accidentally. The investigation is ongoing and Manchester Pride will, where necessary, implement any identified changes to our risk management strategy at future events.

While the fire was an accident, and the council has removed the National Trans Memorial from the garden strictly for safety reasons, it still really hurts to see it go. 

In response to this heartbreaking incident, Manchester Pride has taken swift action. We have already offered: 

• Financial opportunity to Sparkle, to support them with building a new Memorial.
• A full day consultation with a grants expert and hands-on support with grant applications, to support Sparkle with further financial assistance.
• Facilitating and promoting consultations and surveys with our extensive network of local trans communities, to ensure their voices are heard and given input in the design of a new Memorial.
• Multiple meetings with Manchester Pride staff, to allow for cross-organisational collaboration and to ensure Manchester Pride supports this initiative in the most authentic and helpful way possible.

In future, Manchester Pride will continue to support Sparkle and local trans communities however we can. This includes, but is not limited to: 

• Platforming trans and non-binary artsts, speakers, groups and events.
• Providing community grant opportunities for trans and non-binary groups.
• Writing and disseminating trans and non-binary liberation resources.
• Delivering expert trans and non-binary inclusion consultations.
• Campaigning for trans and non-binary systemic liberation, especially in relation to hate crimes.

Our community is under attack in this country, hate crimes are on a terrifying rise and trans and non-binary legal and political futures are precarious at best. We don’t need this right now. We need peace. We need hope. And right now especially, we need action. 

The trans community is integral to everything Manchester Pride stands for and we hope to play our part in ensuring that we have a long-lasting legacy honouring our trans family and friends who have been lost.

As Manchester Pride’s Inclusivity Development Manager, but also as a genderfluid person myself, I am hopeful that our communities can work together to create a new National Trans Memorial, an important endeavour in our shared fight for trans and non-binary liberation.  

Dr. Christopher Owen (he/they)
Inclusivity Development Manager
Manchester Pride