Trans Pride Manchester has issued a “make-or-break” plea for new directors by the end of June or it could be forced to close.
The LGBTQ+ Community Interest Company (CIC) said the organisation is being “held together” by a single active director, who has announced they are stepping down by the end of 2025.
If two new directors aren’t found by 21 June, officials say there “will be no Trans Pride Manchester after that.”
“Let us be blunt: TPM cannot legally or practically continue with just one working director,” a spokesperson said. “We’re handing over – if there’s someone to take the torch.”
Its current director has reportedly committed to continue operations long enough to support a directorial handover, including “mentoring, shadowing, and guiding new directors through organising for August,” but will leave the organisation by the end of 2025.
A spokesperson for the CIC pleaded for avid members of the community who dream of “shaping something powerful” to apply for the position to help continue the organisation’s legacy.
“We know how hard it is. The truth is, this work has cost more than we can keep giving,” the statement continues. “Behind each year’s Pride event is not a team of 20, but at most 2 unpaid volunteers juggling full-time jobs, burnout, discrimination, and endless emotional labour. That’s not sustainable and it shouldn’t have to be.”
Formed in 2021, Trans Pride Manchester hosted its first event in August 2023, with approximately 700 people attending a Pride march through Stevenson Square in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.
The CIC has received criticism in the past over its previous events, with the grassroots community group, Manchester Trans Rise Up, accusing the organisation of failing to “keep the radical, abolitionist spirit of Pride alive.”
In an X/Twitter thread, the community group wrote that, ahead of the 2023 event, it had contacted Trans Pride Manchester over “concerns” regarding who was allowed to speak at the event, and were allegedly told by organisers that the event needed to “remain apolitical” due to TPM’s status as a CIC.
The organisation pushed back on the claims, saying that the main goal of the event was to promote “freedom of speech” and to provide a platform for “the free speech and inclsuion of the trans community.”
Responding to accusations it had stopped speakers with “radical” beliefs from speaking at the march, TPM wrote that it decided not to include pre-or post-march speakers as part of the schedule, but had not “stopped anyone from attending, speaking, or leading chants.”
Its latest Pride event, held in August 2024, introduced a series of speeches from local community members in St Peter’s Square, Manchester, in collaboration with several Pride partners, including Manchester Pride, Feel Good Club, The Proud Place, and LGBT Foundation.
Details on how to apply for a director position at Trans Pride Manchester are available here. Applications close on 8 June 2025.
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