Matthew Warch: why I ma a rom about gay activists and strikg mers | Pri | The Guardian

Contents:

• WHEN MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS UNED: THE REAL STORY OF THE FILM PRI
• COAL MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS PARTNER IN 'PRI'
• PRI REVIEW – WHEN GAY ACTIVISTS STCK A AL WH MERS
• PRI: A HEARTBREAKG BRISH COMEDY ABOUT THE TIME GAYS AND MERS WORKED TOGETHER
• PRI AND JOY: GAY ACTIVISM AND BRISH FILM
• MATTHEW WARCH: WHY I MA A ROM ABOUT GAY ACTIVISTS AND STRIKG MERS

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.

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…'.

COAL MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS PARTNER IN 'PRI'

"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. 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.

PRI REVIEW – WHEN GAY ACTIVISTS STCK A AL WH MERS

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.

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

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.

PRI AND JOY: GAY ACTIVISM AND BRISH FILM

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

MATTHEW WARCH: WHY I MA A ROM ABOUT GAY ACTIVISTS AND STRIKG MERS

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. Gay activists work to help mers durg their lengthy strike of the Natnal Unn of Meworkers the summer of 1984.