Football v Homophobia will host Football Pride symposium at Manchester Metropolitan University on Friday 25 August, followed by a party event, and there’s a Manchester Pride parade opportunity on the Saturday; Zander Murray and Mikey Connor among guest speakers; REGISTER TO ATTEND NOW!
Football Pride – an event from Football v Homophobia that lifts up LGBTQ+ voices across the game – is returning at Manchester Pride in August 2023.
Bringing together our fabulous LGBTQ+ communities within the world’s most popular sport, Football Pride offers opportunities to party, participate and protest.
The main event is a one-day symposium at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School on Friday 25 August (10am to 4pm), featuring star speakers including inspirational out footballers Zander Murray and Jahmal Howlett-Mundle, bookended by get-togethers and networking opportunities on the Thursday and Friday nights.
The latter is a special Football Pride Party at Motley bar in Deansgate (Friday from 7.30pm).
Football Pride is being supported by several sponsors and partners, including the EFL, Kick It Out, Fans for Diversity, Fare, Yotel Manchester and MMU.
For those in the city on the weekend itself, there is also the opportunity to be part of a group marching in the Manchester Pride Parade on Saturday 26 August, under a Football Pride banner.
Symposium tickets start at just £6, while party tickets are £5 and include a welcome drink and food. Please purchase tickets in advance.
You can also join our Facebook event and WhatsApp community chat for updates and discussion.
For the Friday symposium, you can select to attend the morning session (10am to 12.30pm) or the afternoon session (1.30pm to 4pm), or you can book in for the whole day at a reduced rate.
The sessions will feature the following agenda items…
10am to 12.30pm
- Women’s World Cup: An LGBTQ+ Look-back
- Outside the Box – Gamechangers in men’s football
- In conversation: Gender-diverse players and human rights
- Monster TRUK! How the trans-inclusive club went global
1.30pm to 4pm
- A special screening of a new short film fusing football and ballroom culture called ‘Realness With A Twist’, with cast and crew Q&A
- A decade of LGBTQ+ fan groups – but what’s next?
- ‘Manchester is magic’: The queer joy in its inclusive football clubs
Our line-up of speakers, screenings and activities will include…
- Bonnyrigg Rose FC striker Zander Murray, whose visibility in men’s professional football has been an inspiration to thousands
- Centre-back and bi role model Jahmal Howlett-Mundle
- Social media influencers and LGBTQ+ football personalities Mikey Connor (BBC’s I Kissed A Boy) and Jake Williamson
- Players from TRUK United FC, including Natalie Washington, Parker Dunn and Arthur Webber
- World-leading human rights expert Dr Chamindra Weerawardhana
- Referees and match officials including Stacey Pearson and Lloyd Wilson
- Fan leaders from LGBTQ+ supporter groups
- More members of the LGBTQ+ Professionals in Football Collective
* line-up subject to change
After the symposium, there will be a big Football Pride Party at Motley bar in Deansgate, Manchester, from 7.30pm to 10pm, with drink offers and food.
Those wanting to be part of our parade group on the Saturday can sign up here.
The event comes three years after the first Football Pride, an online festival that united an international audience during the pandemic-affected summer of 2020.
Since then, the explosion of the women’s pro game and the proliferation of teams for women and non-binary people has brought much greater LGBTQ+ visibility to football.
Meanwhile, representation is on the rise in the men’s game, with more stories shared, and more solidarity being shown – although significant challenges remain, such as we have seen in recent times on social media and at the FIFA World Cup.
Football Pride offers a space and a state of mind to counter that negativity – to ‘unpark’ the bus and let individual flair flourish. The event has been welcomed with enthusiasm by the organisers of Manchester Pride.
The Friday daytime schedule at Man Met Uni features a line-up of speakers, screenings and activities that promises to be bold and beautiful, queer and quirky, sporty and spicy – and always with an eye for goal.
Professional players, coaches and match officials will rub shoulders with fans, with several famous faces and impactful changemakers set to make appearances.
Members of the LGBTQ+ Professionals in Football Collective will be among those taking part, plus friends from Sports Media LGBT+, fan groups affiliated to Pride in Football and others from the wider Football v Homophobia campaign family.
The Football Pride 2023 fun will begin on the evening of Thursday 24 August in Manchester city centre.
The symposium at Man Met Uni on Friday 25 August (10am to 4pm) will be followed by an evening party at Motley bar in Deansgate (from 7.30pm).
A Football Pride group will then walk in the Manchester Pride parade on Saturday 26 August (from 12pm).
Purchase tickets now – check back here for further updates and more details!
Interested in sponsorship and partnership opportunities for Football Pride?
Find out more information here.
Maybe you’re just keen to get involved with the event?
Please email jon@footballvhomophobia.com to make an enquiry.
You can follow Football Pride on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Connect in the Facebook event and join the WhatsApp community chat.
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