On 28 August 2022, during Manchester Pride, the first national transgender memorial was repeatedly used as a urinal, after which it caught fire in unclear circumstances. This happened just one day before The Candlelight Vigil was due to be held. The vigil is held at the culmination of Manchester Pride and is a moment of reflection for members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies to remember those lost to HIV/AIDS. It also serves as a way to raise awareness and to acknowledge the stigma surrounding HIV.
What was the National Transgender Memorial?
Unveiled in August 2013, the National Transgender Memorial was erected in remembrance to victims of transphobic hate crime and was the first of its kind in the UK. Believed to be the only memorial in the world honouring transgender victims of hate crimes it stood approximately 3.65m tall and was carved from the trunk of a Sycamore tree by wood carver and artist Shane Green. The front of the monument consisted of a design of butterflies rising upwards to symbolise a change from one gender to another, while the rear and sides were adorned with brass plates bearing the names of trans victims of hate crimes.
We were able to speak briefly with Shane who said “I do not know much about the vandalism as I live over here in Yorkshire…what a sad shameless thing that was.”
What happened to the National Transgender memorial?
The precise events of 28 August 2022 have been challenging to ascertain.
On 29 August 2022 Jay Crawford, charity events organiser at Sparkle, told Manchester Evening News:
“As far as we are aware, there was an ignition last night which was witnessed in the park. We were notified later and we think it may have come from a cigarette that has been left against the tree and has gone into a gap and bellowed out from the middle.”
Canal St Online reported Manchester Pride’s initial response to the fire on 7 September 2022:
“On Sunday evening we were alerted to a fire at the National Trans Memorial, teams responded quickly and the fire was extinguished.
In accordance with Health & Safety protocol, all incidents that happen at our events are investigated and reported on thoroughly and properly with the relevant stakeholders. The initial investigation from the Health & Safety Officer who attended the fire indicates that the fire was started accidentally.”
Vicki Mulligan, the Chair of Sparkle’s Board of Trustees, was quoted in the Canal St Online article (7 September 2022) as saying:
“Even though I share everyone’s anger and distress at the ignorance and indifference shown towards a powerful symbol of my community’s struggle, I am also determined to highlight the negligence which has resulted in the memorial’s costly dismantling and replacement.
The Charity will be working closely with Manchester City Council to establish accountability for the damage, and in preserving the legacy and impact of the memorial.”
A further statement was made by Sparkle in Canal St Online on 7 September 2022 to say:
“…security teams were not effectively briefed on the position of the memorial and its importance to the trans, non-binary and gender diverse communities Sparkle serves, or the Public Spaces Protection Order prohibiting public urination in Sackville Gardens.
The Charity still has questions around Manchester Pride neglecting to highlight the National Trans Memorial (and the Beacon of Hope) on their event safety plan, their suggested timeline of events, and inadequate provision of fire extinguishers in the park!”
We were able to speak briefly with Shane who said :
I do not know much about the vandalism as I live over here in Yorkshire…what a sad shameless thing that was.
While the weather was dry that weekend, there’s some suggestion that the memorial and its surroundings were not due to public urination. Notably, there are other wooden structures such as tables and benches in Sackville Gardens which have not caught fire in unclear circumstances. The conclusion reached by Manchester Pride nonetheless was that the fire was started accidentally.
Due to the damage, people wishing to pay their respects to deceased trans friends or relatives at the vigil the following day were unable to due to the memorial being potentially structurally unsafe.
Greater Manchester Police was not involved?
Despite claims being made that Greater Manchester Police were involved, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to them about the damage to the memorial received only the terse reply
“I can confirm that no records relevant to this request were returned.”
A similar FOI request made to Manchester City Council yielded an interesting email trail, with the participants names redacted. Multiple emails dated 30 August 2022 refer to the memorial being “set on fire and seriously damaged”.
A further email dated 31 August 2022 rather strangely states:
“I am not sure where the report of the tree was set on fire has come from? The monument has not been set on fire (or no evidence of this happening recently).”
This email goes on to say:
“ I did take a look and it is obvious the carved monument is now decaying and has become unstable on its mounting. I am sceptical that this can be re-set and still guarantee its safety due to the
extent of decay in the timber. As these carvings have a limited lifespan, I would advise
that the friends group are notified that the memorial is to be removed on safety grounds
and perhaps used or stored elsewhere.”
For context, the expected lifespan of such a carving could be perhaps a couple of decades, in context, this feels dismissive and arguably disingenuous to ignore the fire in favour of focusing on natural decay.
Was there a fire or not? It would seem there was
The photographs taken of the damage done to the memorial seem to tell a different story to some of the earlier suggestions – it looks like the fire was started low to the ground to the rear of the memorial and left to burn for long enough that it’s significantly charred parts of the wood. The front however suffered fairly minimal damage.
A fire in unknown circumstances for any other community’s memorial might well be followed up by media attention and actions from police as was seen in May 2026 when a memorial wall in London was set on fire, and indeed, there is at least one known cases where a person received a short custodial sentence for urinating on a memorial.
When the only memorial to transgender people in the country was damaged by fire, there was no such attention drawn to it. The story was covered by the Manchester Evening News later the same evening, by Pink News the following day, and then was heard of no more.
It seems unlikely that the precise circumstances will ever be known.
This was not the first time the memorial had been vandalised. In 2013, within days of being unveiled, the memorial was vandalised, and I am struck by the comments of then Chair of The Friends of Sackville Gardens, Tony Cooper:
“We worked closely with the Trans community to create a lasting memorial to those who have died because of prejudice and hate, and to then see that memorial vandalised within days was a true reflection of what many Trans people have to go through in daily life.”
Bad things happen to transgender people in unclear circumstances regularly, often no-one sees anything and no-one is deemed responsible. The memorial went much the same way.
What happened to the remains of the transgender memorial?
Chris Perriam, the current chair of Friends of Sackville Gardens was kind enough to tell us:
“a landscaper was brought in to create a circular bed where the carving had stood and also to plant (nearer to the park West entrance) a magnolia tree. Some surviving fragments of the carving were set aside, and one – the largest – we have placed behind the circular bed (although it keeps getting moved!); another few large fragments are at the back of the rockery at the West entrance. Smaller pieces were deliberately buried along a new separate flower bed, helping to enrich the soil there.“
Chris also told us about how the memorial had a brief ‘afterlife’:
“Last summer we had a community archaeological dig on site as part of a PhD research project by Owen Hurcum at the University of York; ‘Trowel, Trenches, and #TransRights: Archaeology and Transgender Activism’. Owen had already written about the memorial in an academic article: “Now Our Remembered Are Forgotten.”
A more resilient memorial for a more resilient community
Resilience is a word that many transgender and non-binary people have come to loathe, as it takes the onus away from the unnecessarily, unpleasant and unfair ways that they are treated, and puts it onto them.
In 2024 a new memorial was proposed, called Passing on the Light, designed by artist and lead architect Bek Ziola working as part of a LGBTQ+ led and women led collective New Practice. According to Manchester Evening News (April 2024) It’s described as:
“Made from polished metal, which will subtly mirror visitors, the gardens and the city, the new monument comprises a series of figures which offer moments of contemplation and reflection.
Each figure is grounded with a stone base that rises from steel posts that have been created to be robust and weather-proof. Sparkle said the figures ‘will stand strong and tall of their own accord, but together take on a collective strength of public presence’.”
While the plans have been submitted and the memorial approved as of today, building is yet to start.
Being transgender is beautiful
“The National Transgender Monument is a project that I hold very dear to my heart and have personal interest in getting delivered.
When I thought about how I wanted to respond to the project brief, I began by reflecting on my own journey to embracing my transness and becoming authentically who I am today.
The notion of ‘Passing on Light’ that is conveyed in the monument concept is a message to the trans community, that if you can live authentically as yourself, you will in turn encourage others to do the same. Being transgender is beautiful and every day I am thankful for reaching acceptance of my identity which was achieved through the support of my community and the love they have given me.”
