Together As One brought together two bodies of work of Manchester’s LGBTQ+ history: Peter J Walsh’s photographs of the mass demonstration against Section 28 in 1988 and Jon Shard’s photographs of Flesh at The Haçienda during the 1990s.
Curated by British Culture Archive founder Paul Wright, the exhibition examined political organisation and club culture across two periods of significant social change. Walsh’s photographs document public opposition to legislation that sought to restrict how local authorities addressed homosexuality. Shard’s photographs record a monthly club night that created an important meeting place within Manchester’s LGBTQ+ communities.
The exhibition was the third presentation in British Culture Archive’s residency programme at The Refuge. It ran from 28th July to 30th September 2022, with an opening event featuring music from Manchester DJ James Holroyd.
On 20th February 1988, more than 20,000 people gathered in Manchester to oppose Clause 28.
The proposed legislation stated that local authorities should not intentionally “promote homosexuality” or promote the teaching of homosexuality as an acceptable “pretended family relationship.” It was introduced during the HIV and AIDS crisis and amid sustained political and media hostility towards lesbian and gay people.
The demonstration assembled on Oxford Road before moving towards a rally in Albert Square. It brought campaigners from across Britain into the centre of Manchester and became one of the largest LGBTQ+ protests held in the country.
Peter J Walsh photographed the march from its starting point near Manchester Polytechnic to the gathering outside Manchester Town Hall. His photographs record the extent of the crowd, the organisations represented and the messages carried through the city.
“The Section 28 demo was one of the largest demonstrations I had covered in Manchester during that period. The starting point was on Oxford Road, by the Poly, and participants seemed to go on as far as the eye could see.”— Peter J Walsh
Walsh had developed his photographic practice through Manchester documentary co-operatives and had already begun covering demonstrations and social issues across the North West. His Section 28 photographs belong to that wider documentary work, alongside the later music and club photographs for which he became more widely known.
Together As One marked the first public exhibition of Walsh’s complete Section 28 series. By presenting the photographs as a coherent body of work, British Culture Archive established their importance as a sustained record of the demonstration rather than a small group of individual historical images.
Photo © Peter J Walsh, all rights reserved.
Photo © Peter J Walsh, all rights reserved.
Flesh opened at The Haçienda in October 1991. Created by the club’s entertainment and promotions manager Paul Cons with promoter Lucy Scher, it developed into one of Britain’s most significant LGBTQ+ club nights.
Held on a Wednesday, Flesh attracted people from Manchester, the wider North West and beyond. Its crowd, programming and visual presentation distinguished it from many of The Haçienda’s other nights.
Flesh also provided a prominent platform for women DJs. Its residents included Michelle Mangan, DJ Paulette and Kath McDermott, alongside Tim Lennox and Dave Kendrick.
Jon Shard began photographing at The Haçienda after leaving college. Flesh became one of his most sustained subjects. He was present throughout the night’s history, photographing performers, DJs, staff and the people who attended.
“My friends and people around me would discuss it all month. People came from all over, and you had people from Europe coming over for it. It was always packed with energy.” — Jon Shard
Photo © Jon Shard, all rights reserved.
Photo © Jon Shard, all rights reserved.
Walsh and Shard photographed different forms of collective activity.
The Section 28 demonstration placed political opposition directly within Manchester’s streets and civic centre. Flesh provided a regular space in which LGBTQ+ culture was visible, organised and shared.
The exhibition did not present the club as a simple consequence of the protest, or the protest as a prelude to nightlife. Each body of work has its own history and purpose. Together, however, they show how political action and cultural participation both contributed to Manchester’s LGBTQ+ public life.
Walsh photographed people asserting their rights before legislation entered force. Shard photographed people gathering while that legislation remained in place.
The four years between the Section 28 march and the opening of Flesh were marked by continuing activism, the development of Manchester’s gay village and major changes in the city’s nightlife. The photographs provide distinct but connected records of that period.
Photo © Jon Shard, all rights reserved.
Together As One was conceived, curated and produced by British Culture Archive as part of its exhibition residency at The Refuge.
BCA selected and sequenced work from both photographic archives, developed the exhibition interpretation and coordinated its public presentation, press materials and promotional circulation.
The exhibition continued British Culture Archive’s work of returning important documentary photography to the city and communities represented within it. It also established an institutional exhibition history for two bodies of work now central to BCA’s representation of Manchester’s political and cultural past.
The opening event took place on 28th July 2022 with music from Manchester DJ James Holroyd. The exhibition remained on public view at The Refuge until 30th September 2022.
Together As One was conceived, curated and produced by British Culture Archive as part of its exhibition residency at The Refuge.
BCA selected and sequenced work from both photographic archives, developed the exhibition interpretation and coordinated its public presentation, press materials and promotional circulation.
The exhibition continued British Culture Archive’s work of returning important documentary photography to the city and communities represented within it. It also established an institutional exhibition history for two bodies of work now central to BCA’s representation of Manchester’s political and cultural past.
The opening event took place on 28th July 2022 with music from Manchester DJ James Holroyd. The exhibition remained on public view at The Refuge until 30th September 2022.
Together As One brought Walsh’s complete Section 28 series into public exhibition for the first time and presented Shard’s Flesh photographs within a wider account of Manchester’s LGBTQ+ history.
The exhibition also demonstrated British Culture Archive’s role in identifying, researching and publicly presenting photographic collections that have substantial historical importance but have not always received sustained institutional attention.
Since the exhibition, photographs from both archives have continued to circulate through BCA’s editorial programme, galleries, print editions, licensing and exhibition work.
Section 28 Demonstration, Manchester, 1988
View Peter J Walsh’s complete BCA gallery.
Section 28 and the Manchester Protest of 1988
Read the full British Culture Archive editorial essay.
Flesh at The Haçienda
Explore Jon Shard’s photographs of the influential LGBTQ+ club night.
Peter J Walsh
View the photographer’s BCA profile and related collections.
Jon Shard
View the photographer’s BCA profile and related collections.
