Meetg Gay Rights Activist Jonathan Blake, Wner of This Year's Pri Award

Contents:

• WHEN MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS UNED: THE REAL STORY OF THE FILM PRI
• LBIANS AND GAYS SUPPORT THE MERS (BISHOPSGATE ARCHIVE)
• LBIAN AND GAY PRI PARA, LONDON, JUNE 1985
• 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!
• GAY PRI CALENDAR
• LGBT HISTORY MONTH: LBIANS AND GAYS SUPPORT THE MERS, 1984-85
• 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. "The story had bee a legend the gay muny. 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.

LBIANS AND GAYS SUPPORT THE MERS (BISHOPSGATE ARCHIVE)

It is really illogil to say, 'I'm gay and I'm to fendg the gay muny but I don't re about anythg else…'. "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.

She explas how the gay muny ted the mg muny: "Their stggle is siar to our own.

LBIAN AND GAY PRI PARA, LONDON, JUNE 1985

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. "We need a character who, like the dience, arriv bewilred at a Gay Pri march.

Now his ey she as he remembers the Welsh mers who me to London to march wh Gay Pri June 1985. 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. Our first sightg of him is wh fox fur and whistle outsi Gay's the Word book shop.

"Wh the South Wal mers at the 1985 Labour party nference, we put gay rights on the agenda.

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!

Tim were tougher for lbians and gay men then. We were well ed to homophobia. But the nsens was: we have been monised by the prs, maybe we should meet the gay people bee they've also been monised.

" It was not long before Welsh mers warmed to their e: "They started wearg gay badg on their lapels.

"Mike marvels at how tim have changed for homosexuals the metropolan first world: "It is unbelievable, we have ma such progrs. Until I was 13, homosexualy was a crime – like makg beg black a crime.

GAY PRI CALENDAR

Nowadays, is unol for straight men to be disparagg about gay men.

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? He says: "Gog to a gay club London was fely somethg I'd never envisaged dog.

We know about blacks and gays and nuclear disarmament and we will never be the same. 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". We knew gay people existed – my dad worked wh a mer who was gay – but nobody openly talked about ; was nsired very personal.

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

About this ArchiveAdmistrative/Bgraphil HistoryThe London Lbians and Gays Support the Mers (LGSM) group was formed July 1984, four months to the year-long mers’ strike of 1984-5.

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

Foundg members Mike Jackson and Mark Ashton had anised a bucket llectn to support the strikg mers on the June 1984 London Pri march and cid that more need to be done to raise awarens of the mers’ e the London lbian and gay muny.

Money was raised primarily om llectns at gay pubs and clubs and on the pavement outsi Gay’s The Word bookshop.

Bronski Beat (featurg Jimmy Somerville) were the headle act at the alliance between LGSM and the South Wal strikg mers and their fai was an important factor turng the ti the tra unn movement favour of equaly measur for lbians and gay men.