50 Years of Queer history and archive at LGBT Foundation.
- A major free heritage exhibition launches to the public on Friday, 27 June at Manchester Central Library, showcasing treasures from half a century of LGBTQ+ history.
- A new global digital exhibition, supported by Google Arts & Culture, brings the charity’s archives to audiences around the world on Friday, 27 June.
- Following a preview of the artwork in May, LGBT Foundation’s Rainbow Arts Trail officially launches across Manchester, with over 25 artists transforming the city into a celebration of queer joy.
- Supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Barefoot Wine, this landmark year honours LGBTQ+ community power, visibility, and resilience.
2025 marks 50 years of queer hope and joy for LGBT Foundation, and the heart of the celebrations begins in the centre of Manchester.
Supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and proudly sponsored by Barefoot Wine, and fresh off the launch of This Is What a Woman Looks Like, LGBT Foundation’s newest national campaign and a powerful celebration of the diversity and visibility of women in 2025, and the recent appointment of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK royalty Dita Garbo as LGBT Foundation’s 50th Anniversary Ambassador, LGBT Foundation is honouring its heritage with a programme of fearless, creative, and community-led projects that highlight five decades of queer resistance, progress, and pride.
Programme includes:
50 Years of Queer Hope & Joy Exhibition
Friday 27 June – December 2025 | Manchester Central Library
This flagship exhibition at Manchester Central Library brings together never-before-seen archive materials, oral histories, and community treasures from LGBT Foundation’s vast collection. It tells the story of five decades of queer resistance, visibility, health activism, and joy through the eyes of those who lived it.
LGBT Foundation x Google Arts & Culture Online Collection: History in Your Hands
Launches Friday 27 June
For the first time, LGBT Foundation’s powerful archive will be available online thanks to Google Arts & Culture. Visitors from around the world can explore digital exhibitions, photos, campaign posters, and community stories, ensuring LGBTQ+ history is preserved, shared, and celebrated far beyond Manchester.
Rainbow Arts Trail
June – September 2025 | Locations include Piccadilly Place, Kampus, The Gay Village, Seesaw, and Manchester Art Gallery
Following a preview in May, the Rainbow Arts Trail officially opens to the public, inviting them to walk this free public art trail across Manchester city centre. Featuring work from over 25 LGBTQ+ artists and allies, LGBT Foundation’s first-ever Rainbow Arts Trail brings queer hope and joy to life through painting, illustration, poetry, and soundscapes linked by QR codes.
The Secret Public Exhibition at John Rylands Library – Community Playlist LIVE!
Wednesday 9 October | 5–8pm | John Rylands Library
A one-night-only event hosted in partnership with the John Rylands Secret Public exhibition, Community Playlist LIVE! is a celebratory evening of music, memories, and community, marking 50 years of LGBTQ+ hope and joy. Attendees can contribute to a live community playlist of LGBTQ+ anthems, sharing the tracks that have defined queer life, love, and resistance over the past five decades. From iconic dancefloor fillers to deeply personal songs, every contribution will help tell the story of the LGBTQ+ experience through music.
Stevie Watson, LGBT Foundation 50th Anniversary Project Manager, said:
“This year is all about celebrating where we’ve come from while inspiring what comes next. These projects make our history visible – on the streets, in the library, and in the hands of people around the world through their mobile devices. We want our history and heritage to inspire hope and joy in LGBTQ+ people across Greater Manchester, the UK, and thanks to Google Arts & Culture, the world. We want these fantastic and intriguing events to remind us all how vital representation, inclusion, and joy are in shaping our collective future. Now more than ever, we need to tell these stories of hope and resilience and pass them forward.”
More events and activities will be announced throughout the year as LGBT Foundation builds towards a powerful finale in December.
Join us in celebrating 50 years of LGBTQ+ resistance, joy, and community.
- To explore the online archive, visit: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/lgbt-foundation
- To walk the Rainbow Arts Trail: https://lgbt.foundation/50years/rainbow-trail