Brish Coalmers Strike Wh A Gay Coaln In 'Pri,' A Crowd-Pleaser : NPR

WHEN MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS UNED: THE REAL STORY OF THE FILM PRI
A SURPRISG SPECT EMERG IN DEATH OF OPENLY GAY COAL MER
A STORY OF SOLIDARY: MERS AND THE GAY COMMUNY
COAL MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS PARTNER IN 'PRI'
LBIANS AND GAYS SUPPORT THE MERS
BRISH COALMERS STRIKE WH A GAY COALN IN 'PRI,' A CROWD-PLEASER

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

* gay miners *

" 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.

A SURPRISG SPECT EMERG IN DEATH OF OPENLY GAY COAL MER

The 'Ps and Perverts" ncert was a benef gig anised by the London Lbian and Gays Support the Mers group. No one is que sure where the tle me om: origally thought to rive om a newspaper headle now seems more likely that was merely a parody of tabloid reprentatns of lbians and * gay miners *

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. "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.

"Mike marvels at how tim have changed for homosexuals the metropolan first world: "It is unbelievable, we have ma such progrs.

A STORY OF SOLIDARY: MERS AND THE GAY COMMUNY

Lbians and Gay Men Support the Mers * gay miners *

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".

“But he showed that you n be an openly gay man and still be able to do physil labor like straight guys and that’s kd of what he was wantg to do is change the stereotype. No one is que sure where the tle me om: origally thought to rive om a newspaper headle now seems more likely that was merely a parody of tabloid reprentatns of lbians and gay men.

COAL MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS PARTNER IN 'PRI'

<strong>Alex von Tunzelmann:</strong> Gay mpaigners jo 80s Bra’s strikg mers this well-rearched film that still skips around thorny issu of socialism and a n- wh the Sun * gay miners *

Not only did they brg their tra unn banners to the 1985 Gay and Lbian Pri Rally London, but they also helped ph through gay rights polici at the 1985 Labour Party Conference, the face of opposn om that Party’s Natnal Executive. Dpe takg place nearly 30 years ago, the ‘Ps and Perverts’ story ntu to be told – and que rightly so sce was an important event Bra’s gay and lbian history. The South Wal mers’ strike of 1984-1985 saw the formatn of a cur alliance between a plucky group of young homosexuals om London and mers Dulais Valley.

In Dancg Dulais, an ial wars on the part of the young gays, the mers, and the mers’ fai giv way, through sometim lite teractns, to a lovg and purposeful solidary.

Ma by, for and about young gay people, wh risg stars of the time Jimmy Somerville and Isaac Julien among a host of others, Framed Youth won the John Grierson Award for documentary. Mike Jackson om Lbians and Gays Support the Mers (LGSM) talks about the spir of Pri, activism, solidary and their plans for the future. LGSM (Lbian and Gay Support the Mers) supporters at PRIDE IN LONDON will form a tras unns solidary ntgent at the ont of BLOCK C.

LBIANS AND GAYS SUPPORT THE MERS

This report is by Joseph Price, one of our first year unrgraduate stunts. 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… * gay miners *

At London’s Gay Pri March on 30 June, leftie activist Mark Ashton (played by Ben Schzer) argu that lbian and gay people should support the mers – for both groups are opprsed by the ernment and the tabloid prs. ”ActivismMark don’t get a lot of support immediately: a gay man om Durham rponds angrily that the mers ed to beat him up back home. It do, however, make accurate nods to the historil ntext, quotg the notor words of Manchter chief nstable Jam Anrton scribg gay men “swirlg about a human csp of their own makg”, and showg the Department of Health’s Don’t Die of Ignorance mercial.