The Te Story of “Pri”: Lbians and Gays Support the Mers Were Communists - Left Voice

Contents:

• WHEN MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS UNED: THE REAL STORY OF THE FILM PRI
• LGBT HISTORY MONTH: 'FROM THE 1969 STONEWALL RTS TO LBIAN & GAYS SUPPORT THE MERS GROUP'
• A STORY OF SOLIDARY: MERS AND THE GAY COMMUNY
• PRI THE MOVIE: JONATHAN BLAKE, THE MPAIGNER PLAYED BY DOMIC WT, TALKS ABOUT HIV, THE MERS' STRIKE AND GAY RIGHTS
• COAL MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS PARTNER IN 'PRI'
• LGBT HISTORY MONTH: LBIANS AND GAYS SUPPORT THE MERS, 1984-85
• CANN 2014 REVIEW: PRI - BILLY ELLT NTUED WH ROG GAY RIGHTS ROMANCE SET DURG MERS' STRIKE
• 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

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. 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. LGSM wrote that “if this strike isn’t won, we as Lbians and Gays have a lot to lose when the Tori and their henchmen e for .

LGBT HISTORY MONTH: 'FROM THE 1969 STONEWALL RTS TO LBIAN & GAYS SUPPORT THE MERS GROUP'

" 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.

"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. 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?

A STORY OF SOLIDARY: MERS AND THE GAY COMMUNY

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.

The Stonewall Rts, also lled the Stonewall Uprisg, began the early hours of 28 June 1969 when New York Cy police raid the Stonewall Inn, a gay club loted Greenwich Village New York Cy.

PRI THE MOVIE: JONATHAN BLAKE, THE MPAIGNER PLAYED BY DOMIC WT, TALKS ABOUT HIV, THE MERS' STRIKE AND GAY RIGHTS

The London Lbians and Gays Support the Mers (LGSM) group was formed July 1984, four months to the year-long mers’ strike of 1984-5. 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. In the 1980s and 1990s he was the ordatg edor of "Gay Communy News" Boston and an active member of MASS ACT Out Boston, ACT UP Philalphia, and Philalphia Queer Actn.

Ste is the thor of "Cy of Sisterly and Brotherly Lov: Lbian and Gay Philalphia, 1945-1972" (Universy of Chigo Prs, 2000); Sexual Injtice: Supreme Court Decisns om Griswold to Roe (Universy of North Carola Prs, 2010); Rethkg the Gay and "Lbian Movement" (Routledge, 2012); and "The Stonewall Rts: A Documentary History" (NYU Prs, 2019). Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Bill Nighy (centre) was uned wh his Pri -stars at the London premiereThe 1984 mers' strike and the gay rights movement may seem like unlikely on-screen partners - but their g together Matthew Warch's film Pri has produced, acrdg to actor Bill Nighy, "the most important Brish film of recent years" Nighy is one of the stars of the movie, which documents the te story of how Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr (LGBT) groups beme the biggt fancial supporters of the mers, who went on strike for more than a year 1984, prott agast wispread p closur. Pri foc on one London group of lbian and gay activists, who "adopted" a mg muny south Wal, spe ial spicn and prejudice om Stnton, Paddy Conside, Domic Wt and Andrew Stt - Moriarty TV's Sherlock - are also part of the ensemble st.

If you were asked by your grandchildren what velopments your lifetime ma you most proud, one of them might be the civil rights movement Ameri and the other would be the emancipatn of gay men and women. "You have to remember that Pri is set 30 years ago and the Gay Pri march weren't a celebratn or Mardi Gras, they were polil events that would see protters beaten up by the police. "What is so funny is that we are makg a film about failure - bee the mers ultimately lost their battle - but we do feature a scene the film of the Gay Pri march London 1985.

COAL MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS PARTNER IN 'PRI'

The full might of the Natnal Unn of Meworkers showed up for the first time history to that march, and that was a direct rult of the gay rights movement and their fundraisg. Image source, PublicyImage ptn, Imelda Stnton and Domic Wt show how the te life events picted Pri reveal the steely spir of the mers and their supporters"The followg year gay rights beme enshred the Labour Party nstutn, and that aga was a direct rult of the events we show Pri.

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. 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 .

Ever sce then, I do not accept the ia that workers are particularly homophobic – even though sometim they say thgs more bluntly. 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.

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

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. The funnit reactns me om the mastream gays: Bee the movie was so succsful, they had to pretend that they hadn’t spised all along.

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.

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. 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.

CANN 2014 REVIEW: PRI - BILLY ELLT NTUED WH ROG GAY RIGHTS ROMANCE SET DURG MERS' STRIKE

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.

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

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’.