By Pauline Smith

50 thousand of us
Old and bold
Old and not so bold
We are the older LGBT people
In Our Place
In all ten boroughs across Manchester.
Last June we lit the torch
to fight yet again for what we believe
Dignity, compassion, self worth
In our place
We are everywhere
Your neighbour...your gran.
Pride in Ageing is about
Our self worth...our inner being
We are 50 plussers
50 thousand strong
Determined and feisty.
Do we want to be taken into care?
Not now
Covid 19 is not the real issue for us
Discrimination is
Can we be who are are,
And want to be in our twilight?
Last year something new
As oldies we lit the torch
With Barclays and the LGBT Foundation
Pride in Ageing its called
For a reason…..
As young people we fought
Just to be us...with Pride
Against Section 28 and other rules
We survived Aids
We have lit the torch again
And the flame burns brightly
We will pass on the torch
To those who come after us
All of us LGBT people
“Who take a walk on the wild side”
Yes ...we do care
About dignity, self worth and compassion
In our older years
For all of us
And all those who come after.

Our Pride in Ageing Programme celebrated it's first birthday on 5 June 2020. The programme supports and celebrates LGBT people over 50 in Greater Manchester and aims to make the city-region the best place to grow older as an LGBT person.Find our more about the programme at www.lgbt.foundation/prideinageing