The classlessness of gay life in Manchester before 1967

This is an extract from the full-length oral history POLARI/2 which was conducted as part of the Polari Mission by Jez Dolan and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2013-2104. You can listen to this interview at Manchester Central Library.

The project used Polari as a starting point to examine how contemporary LGBT groups and individuals view, understand, appreciate, utilise, or see reflected in their own ‘communities of language’ the influence of Polari, and its impact on how we communicate today. The project produced a series of exhibitions, performances, visual artwork and audience participation.

Polari Mission was a multi-disciplinary collaboration between the artists and specialists in the fields of linguistics and computer science including Professor Paul Baker (Lancaster University) & Tim Greening-Jackson.