RCAHMW | LGBT History Month: Lbians and Gays Support the Mers, 1984-85

Contents:

• WHEN MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS UNED: THE REAL STORY OF THE FILM PRI
• PRI: A HEARTBREAKG BRISH COMEDY ABOUT THE TIME GAYS AND MERS WORKED TOGETHER
• LGBT HISTORY MONTH: LBIANS AND GAYS SUPPORT THE MERS, 1984-85
• LBIANS AND GAYS SUPPORT THE MERS: PRI A LEGACY
• A STORY OF SOLIDARY: MERS AND THE GAY COMMUNY
• PRI 2015 AND LBIANS AND GAYS SUPPORT THE MERS
• MERS STRIKE: WHEN THE GAY MUNY STOOD UP FOR THE MERSPRI, A MOVIE ABOUT THE UNLIKELY MERS' STRIKE LK UP BETWEEN LONDON BASED GAYS AND LBIANS IS DUE TO BE ON OUR CEMA SCREENS LATER THIS YEARWALONLEBOOKMARKSHARENEWSBYROB TURNER06:00, 21 MAR 2014UPDATED12:48, 22 JUL 2015BOOKMARKMEMBERS OF THE LBIANS’ AND GAY MEN’S MERS’ SUPPORT GROUPKEEP UP TO DATE WH THE LATT STORI WH OUR WALONLE NEWSLETTERMORE NEWSLETTERS SUBSCRIBEINVALID EMAILSOMETHG WENT WRONG, PLEASE TRY AGA LATER.MORE NEWSLETTERSWE E YOUR SIGN-UP TO PROVI NTENT WAYS YOU’VE NSENTED TO AND IMPROVE OUR UNRSTANDG OF YOU. THIS MAY CLU ADVERTS OM AND THIRD PARTI BASED ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF YOU. MORE THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBG!WE HAVE MORE NEWSLETTERSSHOW ME SEE OURPRIVACY NOTICE SEE OURPRIVACY NOTICE&TIM;GROUP 28 KEEP UP TO DATE WH THE LATT STORI WH OUR WALONLE NEWSLETTERINVALID EMAILSOMETHG WENT WRONG, PLEASE TRY AGA LATER.SIGN UPNO THANKS, CLOSEWE E YOUR SIGN-UP TO PROVI NTENT WAYS YOU’VE NSENTED TO AND IMPROVE OUR UNRSTANDG OF YOU. THIS MAY CLU ADVERTS OM AND THIRD PARTI BASED ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF YOU. MORE &TIM;GROUP 28THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBG!
• LBIANS AND GAYS SUPPORT THE MERS
• MEETG GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST JONATHAN BLAKE, WNER OF THIS YEAR'S PRI AWARD

WHEN MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS UNED: THE REAL STORY OF THE FILM PRI

" He acknowledg now that this is a le you n only e once a pch and explas that he went on to tell the story of mers the Dulais valley South Wal durg the 1984-5 strike – the longt Brish history – and a gay and lbian group om London that donated more money (£11, 000 by December 1984) to their e than any other fundraiser the UK, along wh a mib emblazoned wh the logo LGSM: Lbians and Gays Support the a when a gree of homophobia was the norm, LGSM drove a uple of mib om Hackney Communy Transport and a clapped-out VW mper van to a bleak mg town South Wal to prent their donatns, uncerta what sort of wele to expect. Three years later and the film, shot Banwen, Wal, and London, and directed by Tony-wng Matthew Warch (rponsible for Matilda the Mil, and soon to be artistic director of the Old Vic), is might assume a rom about strikg mers and 80s gays was unlikely to be big box-office, but the same was probably said of Billy Ellt.

PRI: A HEARTBREAKG BRISH COMEDY ABOUT THE TIME GAYS AND MERS WORKED TOGETHER

"In the homema LGSM documentary, we also glimpse a tall, handsome fellow wearg groovy leather troers, shakg a donatns bucket outsi Gay's the Word bookshop London's Marchmont Street – this is Jonathan Blake. Cliff, an olr mer ( the film, a killgly funny and affectg Bill Nighy) appears the documentary sayg: "The lbians and gays have been super duper.

One hope is that the film might revive polil tert bee the activism of the left has been siled, the tra unns are weak, gay rights issu aren't there. And when he has to make a speech a gay bar wh a clientele whose look is more S&M than M&S, you fear for him – how is all gog to pan out?

Twenty-seven gay people ( the film is a dozen) slept on his floor – the morng, his six-year-old dghter "uldn't put her foot down". Pri, the wonrful new movie about a group of London-based lbian and gay activists who raised money for Welsh mers durg a major 1984-85 strike, is a love letter to solidary, a powerful force that we still talk about si the LGBTQ muny but rarely act upon. When Mark Ashton (played wh oodl of sexy charisma by Amerin Ben Schzer) notic that the police are spendg ls time harassg gays, part bee they’re by on the mers’ picket l, he spends the 1984 London gay pri march solicg donatns for the strikers and their fai.

LGBT HISTORY MONTH: LBIANS AND GAYS SUPPORT THE MERS, 1984-85

In most films, the gays’ arrival the valleys would be the big climax—homophobia would be overe by a movg piece of oratn, and the mers would lk arms wh guys who socialize clubs lled the Mhaft and sg songs as the creds roll. Y, there is an epic dis scene (the gays love to dance) which Domic Wt more than jtifi his paycheck, and, naturally, there’s a heartrendg sgalong (bee you know the Welsh do love to sg), but then thgs start to get real.

Jt as the Great Atlantic Flt lks the “dark artery” of al that ns om South Wal to Pennsylvania, the mers and gays e to realize that they, too, are nnected, and they’re stronger if they foc on the mon stggle stead of lgerg on their differenc. Their support for the strike prompted the Natnal Unn of Mers to mpaign for the rights of gay people and mand that sexual equaly be clud the program of the Labour Party.

LBIANS AND GAYS SUPPORT THE MERS: PRI A LEGACY

The real protagonists were surprised by the film’s mercial succs: 30 years later, a tearjerker about the class stggle beme an ternatnal blockbter, while tellg the te story of Lbians and Gays Support the Mers. “Milant”, the group to which I belonged at the time, nsired gay rights a bourgeois ncern and imaged that the workers would not be able to handle . We jt started llectg money om the pri march or gay pubs, and the most we were expectg was a thank you letter om the village we supported.

We were still personal ntact wh the people Wal – but the memory of the 80s solidary movements, even left and gay circl, fad wh time. Your story has also spired a new anizatn, Lbians and Gays Support the Migrants, which not only llects money for migrant projects but has also ma a name for self wh darg actns, cludg the blocka of an airplane on which refuge were beg ported.

A STORY OF SOLIDARY: MERS AND THE GAY COMMUNY

It still puzzl me that exploative pani n march pri paras and prent themselv as gay-iendly while treatg their workers, cludg their LGBT staff, atrocly. On the eveng of March 28, 2017, 15 activists cludg Lbians and Gays Support the Migrants (LGSM) cut a hole the fence surroundg London’s Standsted Airport. As portrayed the 2014 film Pri, the small Welsh mg village of Onllwyn Neath Port Talbot was the settg for the seemgly unlikely llaboratn between a group of lbian and gay activists om London and strikg Welsh mers and their fai durg the year-long UK strike 1984-85.

Followg an ial bucket llectn for strikg mers at the June 1984 Gay Pri march, Lbians and Gays Support the Mers (LGSM) was formed July 1984 after a reprentative om the South Wal Natnal Unn of Meworkers me to speak at a meetg at the Universy of London Stunt Unn. The support beme mutual, wh a large group of mers and their fai om Blaenant Lodge South Wal takg part the 1985 Gay Pri march London. Perhaps more importantly, the Natnal Unn of Meworkers block vote rried a motn to support equal rights for gay men and lbians at the Labour Party nference Bournemouth later that year.

Lbians and Gays Support the Mers webse: Lbians and Gays Support the Mers, Archive Collectn, Labour History Archive and Study Centre ().

PRI 2015 AND LBIANS AND GAYS SUPPORT THE MERS

Instead, thanks to the award-wng film Pri, a book of the same name and the ntued polil mment of s founrs, the amazg tale of Lbians and Gays Support the Mers (LGSM) has reached lns across the world. It’s a touchg edy, ftly tellg the story of this seemgly unlikely alliance between a small group of lbians and gay men London and the mg muni of the Neath, Dulais and Swansea valleys.

MERS STRIKE: WHEN THE GAY MUNY STOOD UP FOR THE MERSPRI, A MOVIE ABOUT THE UNLIKELY MERS' STRIKE LK UP BETWEEN LONDON BASED GAYS AND LBIANS IS DUE TO BE ON OUR CEMA SCREENS LATER THIS YEARWALONLEBOOKMARKSHARENEWSBYROB TURNER06:00, 21 MAR 2014UPDATED12:48, 22 JUL 2015BOOKMARKMEMBERS OF THE LBIANS’ AND GAY MEN’S MERS’ SUPPORT GROUPKEEP UP TO DATE WH THE LATT STORI WH OUR WALONLE NEWSLETTERMORE NEWSLETTERS SUBSCRIBEINVALID EMAILSOMETHG WENT WRONG, PLEASE TRY AGA LATER.MORE NEWSLETTERSWE E YOUR SIGN-UP TO PROVI NTENT WAYS YOU’VE NSENTED TO AND IMPROVE OUR UNRSTANDG OF YOU. THIS MAY CLU ADVERTS OM AND THIRD PARTI BASED ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF YOU. MORE THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBG!WE HAVE MORE NEWSLETTERSSHOW ME SEE OURPRIVACY NOTICE SEE OURPRIVACY NOTICE&TIM;GROUP 28 KEEP UP TO DATE WH THE LATT STORI WH OUR WALONLE NEWSLETTERINVALID EMAILSOMETHG WENT WRONG, PLEASE TRY AGA LATER.SIGN UPNO THANKS, CLOSEWE E YOUR SIGN-UP TO PROVI NTENT WAYS YOU’VE NSENTED TO AND IMPROVE OUR UNRSTANDG OF YOU. THIS MAY CLU ADVERTS OM AND THIRD PARTI BASED ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF YOU. MORE &TIM;GROUP 28THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBG!

“It really ronat wh people and often spir them to offer practil solidary, whether ’s Lbians and Gays Support the Migrants London, UK, or London, Ontar — as well as Wal, Brighton and Bssels. “A group of young and ialistic gay men and women ma mon e wh a very tradnal muny the south Wal alfield and helped to keep them alive, as Mrs Thatcher’s ernment sought to starve mg fai to submissn. 35 years ago, on the 29th June 1985, London’s gay pri para received some very unlikely supporters who saw their duty to show their support for a muny who had helped them survive durg tumultuo tim.

The supporters were b loads of Welsh mers whom had been touched by the overwhelmg generosy of the group, ‘Lbians and Gays Support the Mers’ or LGSM. Thanks to Mike Jackson and Mark Ashton, foundg members of LGSM, a llectn was formed to raise money to sta the mers and their fai, this money was llected at gay pubs and clubs as well as om buckets the streets. LGSM stands to be one of the cleart acts of solidary gay history, stead of simply ignorg the issue, the muny band together to help another distrs.

After the strike end, a motn was fally passed to place Gay and Lbian rights to the Labour party manifto, though this had been raised before, had never been approved due to a block vote om one key unn- The Natnal Unn of Meworkers. So, thanks to the selfls acts of solidary shown by the LGBT muny, the mers accepted placg gay rights to the Labour party’s agenda, statg their slogan, ‘Mers supports Gays and Lbians’. Mark Ashton, a gay man and member of the Young Communist League, said that “prevly I had this semi-antagonistic attu towards the anized labour movement, tra unns, macho het bully boys.

LBIANS AND GAYS SUPPORT THE MERS

The mers and lbian and gay activists found they had much mon, cludg mistreatment by police, misreprentatn the media, and direct attacks om the nservative ernment.

MEETG GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST JONATHAN BLAKE, WNER OF THIS YEAR'S PRI AWARD

Below we rry a statement om Lbians and Gays Support the Mers (LGSM) on why they will not be leadg the para this year as they had hoped, followg the failure of the Pri London board to unrstand anythg about the meang of the film Pri.

We will be marchg at the head of the tra unn sectn alongsi the re-formed Swansea, Neath and Dulais Valley Mers Support group wh their mers’ banners, the Tregar Town Brass Band (as seen the movie), and the South Wal Gay Men’s Chos. Ray Goodspeed, who was a founr member of the Lbians and Gays Support the Mers group portrayed the film Pri, fills some more tail the real-life stggle picts so movgly. Many members of Left Uny will be aware of the recently-released movie Pri, which als wh te story of the Lbians and Gays Support the Mers (LGSM) group and their lks wh a South Wal mg valley, Dulais.