LGBT History Month: Lbians and Gays support the mers | Article, LGBT, News | News | UNISON South East

Contents:

• WHEN MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS UNED: THE REAL STORY OF THE FILM PRI
• WELSH PREMIERE FOR PRI FILM ABOUT THE MERS' STRIKE AND GAY MUNYTHE FILM TELLS THE SPIRATNAL STORY OF THE UNLIKELY LK UP BETWEEN LONDON BASED GAY AND LBIANS AND MERS OM THE DULAIS VALLEYWALONLEBOOKMARKSHAREWHAT'S ONBYVICTORIA JON15:52, 29 AUG 2014UPDATED11:32, 30 AUG 2014BOOKMARKMEMBERS OF THE LBIANS’ AND GAY MEN’S MERS’ SUPPORT GROUPWANT THE BT FOOD, FILM, MIC, ARTS AND CULTURE NEWS SENT STRAIGHT TO YOUR BOX?MORE 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 WANT THE BT FOOD, FILM, MIC, ARTS AND CULTURE NEWS SENT STRAIGHT TO YOUR BOX?INVALID 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!
• COAL MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS PARTNER IN 'PRI'
• WELSH MOVIE PRI 'DROPS' GAY REFERENC FOR US DVD RELEASE
• PRI AND JOY: GAY ACTIVISM AND BRISH FILM
• A STORY OF SOLIDARY: MERS AND THE GAY COMMUNY
• LGBT HISTORY MONTH: LBIANS AND GAYS SUPPORT THE MERS, 1984-85
• ‘PRI’ WELSH MERS GROUP TO RNE WH GAY RIGHTS MPAIGNERS
• PRI: A HEARTBREAKG BRISH COMEDY ABOUT THE TIME GAYS AND MERS WORKED TOGETHER
• LGBT HISTORY MONTH: LBIANS AND GAYS SUPPORT THE 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. 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. Gay activists work to help mers durg their lengthy strike of the Natnal Unn of Meworkers the summer of productn, box office & pany Vios56More like thisReview Jt Pla GeoI watched this entire film om start to fish wh tears my ey and a se plastered across my tells a betiful story of a small group of Gay Rights activists who take actn to support the strikg mers whom they feel are feelg the same opprsn that they had once and were currently is a geo story of humany. The film, my opn, perfectly ptur the homophobia, bigotry, ignorance and cursy that the LGBT muny als wh showg the spectm of opns g the right amount of humour.

WELSH PREMIERE FOR PRI FILM ABOUT THE MERS' STRIKE AND GAY MUNYTHE FILM TELLS THE SPIRATNAL STORY OF THE UNLIKELY LK UP BETWEEN LONDON BASED GAY AND LBIANS AND MERS OM THE DULAIS VALLEYWALONLEBOOKMARKSHAREWHAT'S ONBYVICTORIA JON15:52, 29 AUG 2014UPDATED11:32, 30 AUG 2014BOOKMARKMEMBERS OF THE LBIANS’ AND GAY MEN’S MERS’ SUPPORT GROUPWANT THE BT FOOD, FILM, MIC, ARTS AND CULTURE NEWS SENT STRAIGHT TO YOUR BOX?MORE 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 WANT THE BT FOOD, FILM, MIC, ARTS AND CULTURE NEWS SENT STRAIGHT TO YOUR BOX?INVALID 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!

Coal mers and gay activists — two groups that, 1980s England at least, you might have figured would steer clear of each other — partner surprisgly effectively the real-life story that's affectnately fictnalized Pri.

COAL MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS PARTNER IN 'PRI'

A group of supporters for Welsh mers and gay rights mpaigners have rned 30 years after they fed an alliance durg the 1984-85 Mers' mpaign spired last year's Bafta award wng film, Pri. Now, they're hopg to spire and rekdle grassroots the report om Mike Griffhs below:The film told the te story of how gay and lbian activists cid to raise money and lend their support to strikers a south Wal mg muny film starred Paddy Conside, Imelda Stnton and Bill Nighy Cred: PAMore: Pri ws Bafta for Outstandg DebutMembers of the group returned to that village - Onllwyn the Dulais Valley -for a rnn this Geth Roberts - played the film by Andrew Stt - the event will be Donovan tch up wh a member of LGSMThe event - anised by those who led the muny durg the strike - is a hope the revived support group will to spire a new generatn of rnn event has sold outP closur throughout the 80s and 90s have seen Wal' mg dtry signifintly rced Rememberg the Mers' Strike 30 years onThe former Cefn Coed/Blaenant Colliery nearby CrynantThirty years on om the end of the strike, the activists and mers' welfare anisatn ntue to celebrate the iendships ma durg the mpaign. A film about the te story of gay and lbian activists' support for the Welsh mers the 1980s has had referenc to homosexualy removed om the Amerin DVD release.

Some of even film is unashamedly polil, both s reprentatn of the prejudice agast homosexuals at a time was AIDS was vastatg the gay muny and the hostily of misters, media and police to the mers' fight to keep ps open, but the treatment ensur that this is an immensely entertag and often very funny work. Although the movie wears s polil heart on s sleeve, avoids an over-simplistic portrayal of the gay e by showg entrenched opposn to their volvement the mers dispute om sectns of the Welsh muny and challenge om gays themselv as to why they should be volved a workers' strike, although the ntroversy of the lack of a ballot thorisg the strike self is script is a triumph wh every le makg an impact and tellg somethg and there are some wonrful jok.

Although GLSM was eventually shunned by the official strike mtee and the mers lost the strike and almost all of Bra's ps have subsequently closed, the ncludg scen of the film and the fal bs of rmative text turn this historic teractn to a succs that should spire the prent day gay muny and labour movement alike. The movie got the tails exactly right, I and many of my gay iends were on lots of march cludg the on agast Clse 28 the evil Tory piece of legislatn that outlawed promotn of homosexualy schools and publicly fund mms and art gallerias (among others) I want to say about this film is that young gay and straight people should see . So one big thank you to all volved for makg this 50 somethg gay man remember so vividly, and spe of the dark days portrayed, our youthful stggle and remdg that we really did somethg wonrful and change thgs, as this film is proof posive that we did jt by the fact that is got ma.

WELSH MOVIE PRI 'DROPS' GAY REFERENC FOR US DVD RELEASE

I hope that young gay people, who still pe wh the same problems we did, isolated, alone, and sred n watch this film and ga strength om and jo the fight agast prejudice still to be won.

Instead, this is really a study of the enormo prejudice and real physil danger faced by the gay and lbian muny London and the untry MacKay ("Sunshe on Leh") plays "Bromley" (real name Joe) – a 20-year old (so therefore unr-age at the time) who is a closet gay. Helpg him are his assorted iends cludg gay uple Jonathan and Geth (Domic Wt and the brilliant Andrew – "Moriaty" – Stt), Mike (Joseph Gilgun), Jeff (Freddie Fox) and Steph (Faye Marsay… "I'm the 'L' LGSM! ") irony is that the mers are generally speakg the most homophobic group that they uld ever hope to fd, so the unn wants nothg to do wh them or their money.

In particular (give or take the odd dodgy accent) the characters who make up the Welsh muny are all superb: Paddy Conside ("Hot Fuzz", "The Bourne Ultimatum") plays the open and reasonable envoy first sent to London to meet LGSM; Bill Nighy a quiet and unrstated performance (y, you heard me right) plays Cliff; Imelda Stnton plays the hilar role of Hefa, lear of the mtee group; Jsi Gunng is pch-perfect as Sian – a tea lady wh a feisty attu and Mreen (Lisa Paley) is a lightfully unlikable homophobic mer's wife who stok trouble wh ntemptuo glee. And was me or did one of Mreen's rabidly homophobic sons do a U-turn appearg wh the other mers at the (remarkably, historilly rrect) gay pri march at the end of the film? If so, this seems to be an unnecsary and Hollywood-style ndy-atg too all, for me this is a film that both highlights how far we have e thirty years the area of gay rights and perhaps how far there still is to go.

PRI AND JOY: GAY ACTIVISM AND BRISH FILM

Gradually the "wele the gays" group gas sway and an effective, funny, heart-warmg and movg arrangement is reached and the village benefs fancially and emotnally om the Gay group's story is a te one and the characters are (or were, AIDS took s toll) real people.

Although the strike is to some extent a backdrop to the story of growg engagement between the village and s gay helpers is much more than are some fe sub-plots as well. And we even have a polil party which stutnalis that spegoatg agast dividuals and groups who don't match up to their nventnal template bee of (among other thgs) their race, natnaly or sexual pri "Pri" is about more than Gay Pri. The dialogu are really good, well though-out, and livered nvcgly by a stellar st, who are always believable their 's not jt "good for an die gay movie" - 's an credibly powerful movie that ranks right up wh the bt of them this year (and wh stars such as Bill Nighy and Imelda Satunton, and a probably fair budget, don't have an "amatr" / "die" feel at all eher), worth the price of admissn (unlike, unfortunately, so many movi the days...

Pri is a te life story based around the Brish Mer's Strike 1984, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Mister and not very popular, not wh mers and pecially not wh the gay and lbian muny eher. Joe, a young naïve closeted gay boy arriv London to take part his first gay pri march, soon after arrivg Joe is taken by a lol gay and lbian rights activist group who do their part to raise funds to fight their foe Thatcher and her evil ways.

A STORY OF SOLIDARY: MERS AND THE GAY COMMUNY

Soon after the group realise that both the Mer's and the gay muny have a lot mon they make the cisn to start raisg funds for the fai of the mers a ltle Welsh town lled Onllwyn. The mers reject the gay and lbian activists money believg will do more harm than good for their e so the group unfazed but a ltle perplexed ci to take the money personally to the town to hand over and expla their suatn and hopefully form a new alliance agast the untri Prime Mister and her party… Pri is set a very bleak and dark time of Brish history but I feel that 's never actually shown that way, sure thgs are dark and gray but I wish the director jt add more hardship to his fal ed for the film, not beg a part of personally but rememberg how harsh was om school study and other films I have seen over time.

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

My personal favoure performanc are probably Domic Wt's bee of his wonrful energy, fantastic livery and that the fact that he was playg a gay men (and was signifintly ls creepy than his Fred Wt performance) and Jsi Gunng's who played her play wh such warmth and fire. On top of this there is a plethora of tragic LGBT issu that further h the viewer like a fist throughout, be a fay not acceptg their gay son, the Mers' refal to fully support the LBGT muny when the gog gets tougher (the bleakns of those scen are particularly vastatg), the start of AIDS and the knowledge that the men's liv will never be the same, the ocsnal vlence shown to the gay men… the list really do go on.

You know your not gog to watch a "gay" film when the openg scen are of mers on a picket le, wh Pete Seeger sgg "Solidary Forever, " rarely sung Ameri today. In 1985 a large ntgent of straight mers led the Gay Pri Para London wh band and unfurled banners of one hand graspg another solidary and unn of purpose.

Furthermore, as a sign of this inty of mon enavor, were not for the NUM the timoro Labour Party wouldn't have e out for Gay Rights the party platform The Welsh are known for sgg, so is not surprisg at the muny hall to hear a swellg chos of voic tong Bread and Ros, a song associated wh the 1912 Massachetts textile strike. It rri the forceful msage that gays don't necsarily stand up for gay people, straights for straights, workers for workers, but actg ncert they n act towards polil change for the better. I watched this entire film om start to fish wh tears my ey and a se plastered across my tells a betiful story of a small group of Gay Rights activists who take actn to support the strikg mers whom they feel are feelg the same opprsn that they had once and were currently is a geo story of humany.

‘PRI’ WELSH MERS GROUP TO RNE WH GAY RIGHTS MPAIGNERS

Durg the 1984/85 Mers' Strike, a small group of Gays and Lbians London see parallels between between their own downtrodn suatn and that of the persecuted mers, and bee effective fund-raisers. I have always been agast persecutn of people bee of their sexual orientatn (ed, I am agast persecutn generally), but I grew up a place and age where homosexualy was illegal, and I nnot ny that my attus have been loured by my upbrgg.

Yet, on the other hand, this sort of film, spe the polil rrectns, is probably NOT sted to be a huge blockbter--pecially sce many folks might not say anythg agast a pro-gay film but they certaly won't pay to go see one. It's a te story (wh a few liberate chang---such as removg any referenc to one of the founrs beg a munist) about an odd alliance the 1980s-- how a group of gay men and women me to ally themselv wh Brish al strikers! I did as much as I uld to support the mers and went on more mos than I n remember as well as givg half my wag to the e – every week, pl what ever else I uld is about the Lbian and Gay Support the Mers group and is told an often edic fashn.

But the msage of solidary and fightg agast adversy for change are the stars of the on a te story, the film picts a group of LGBT activists who raised money to help fai affected by the UK mers' strike 1984, at the outset of what would bee the Lbians and Gays Support the Mers Natnal Unn of Meworkers was reluctant to accept the group's support due to the unn's public relatns' worri about beg openly associated wh a gay group, so the activists stead cid to take their donatns directly to a small mg village Wal — rultg an alliance between the two muni. Based on a te story, wh many fictnal characters thrown for dramatic tensn, Pri centers on two opposg groups: the Natnal Unn of Mers and a group of gay activists who support their e.

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

Formg the LGSM (Lbians and Gays Support the Mers), they beg to raise money to help the strikg mers while alg wh the prejudice surroundg them, both om the straight muny and om the mers is their ial meetg and slow acceptance, amid the homophobia and bigotry, that mak Pri highly watchable. I AM NOT ma of stone, even if the makers of "Pri" seem to urse, "Pri" go beyond the strike per se to report the remarkable alliance stck up between young male and female homosexuals and Welsh mers at a time when anti-Thatcher sympathi were NOT enough to bridge gaps of prejudice, even when the L&G muny did all they uld to raise funds to help the mers and their fai. It was a que different world, and one that gas thentic aforementned Bill Nighy plays far om his ual part, and is perhaps the most pellg character - a quiet, poetic soul thrilled by mg history and culture, though not que bld to s sts, a reprsed homosexual himself and a gentle man rortg to the strongt possible language as he spews out his loathg of "Thatcher".

LGBT HISTORY MONTH: LBIANS AND GAYS SUPPORT THE MERS

On the L&G si there is an absolute plethora of great actg to savour, be om Faye Marsay as the lovely ( every sense) "Steph" or Domic Wt as olr gay actor Jonathan Blake - real life still alive 2017, spe beg among the first people Bra to be diagnosed HIV+.