When mers and gay activists uned: the real story of the film Pri | Pri | The Guardian

Contents:

• 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
• JONATHAN BLAKE: “MERS PUT GAY RIGHTS ON THE POLIL AGENDA”
• ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN BETA(FUNCTN(){FOR(VAR G="FUNCTN"==TYPEOF FEPROPERTI?FEPROPERTY:FUNCTN(B,C,A){IF(||)THROW NEW TYPEERROR("ES3 DO NOT SUPPORT GETTERS AND SETTERS.");B!=ARRAY.PROTOTYPE&&B!=OBJECT.PROTOTYPE&&(B[C])},H="UNFED"!=TYPEOF WDOW&&WDOW===THIS?THIS:"UNFED"!=TYPEOF GLOBAL&&NULL!=GLOBAL?GLOBAL:THIS,K=["STRG","PROTOTYPE","REPEAT"],L=0;LB||1342177279>>=1)C+=C;RETURN A};Q!=P&&NULL!=Q&&G(H,N,{NFIGURABLE:!0,WRABLE:!0,VALUE:Q});VAR T=THIS;FUNCTN U(B,C){VAR ("."),D=T;A[0] D||!D.EXECSCRIPT||D.EXECSCRIPT("VAR "+A[0]);FOR(VAR E;(());)||VOID 0===C?D[E]?D=D[E]:D=D[E]={}:D[E]=C};FUNCTN V(B){VAR ;IF(0=C.OFFSETWIDTH&&0>=C.OFFSETHEIGHT)A=!1;ELSE{D=C.GETBOUNDGCLIENTRECT();VAR ;("PAGEYOFFSET" WDOW?WDOW.PAGEYOFFSET:(DOCUMENT.DOCUMENTELEMENT||F.PARENTNO||F).SCROLLTOP);("PAGEXOFFSET" WDOW?WDOW.PAGEXOFFSET:(DOCUMENT.DOCUMENTELEMENT||F.PARENTNO||F).SCROLLLEFT);F=A.TOSTRG()+","+D;B.B.HASOWNPROPERTY(F)?A=!1:(B.B[F]=!0,A=(A+=E)}B.I&&(E="&RD="+ENURICOMPONENT(JSON.STRGIFY(B())),131072>(A+=E),C=!0);C=A;IF(C){D=B.H;B=B.J;VAR F;IF(WDOW.XMLHTTPREQUT)F=NEW XMLHTTPREQUT;ELSE IF(WDOW.ACTIVEXOBJECT)TRY{F=NEW ACTIVEXOBJECT("MSXML2.XMLHTTP")}TCH(R){TRY{F=NEW ACTIVEXOBJECT("MICROSOFT.XMLHTTP")}TCH(D){}}F&&(("POST",D+(-1==XOF("?")?"?":"&")+"URL="+ENURICOMPONENT(B)),F.SETREQUTHEAR("CONTENT-TYPE","APPLITN/X-WWW-FORM-URLEND"),(A))}}}FUNCTN B(){VAR B={},C;C=DOCUMENT.GETELEMENTSBYTAGNAME("IMG");IF(!)RETURN{};VAR A=C[0];IF(!("NATURALWIDTH" A&&"NATURALHEIGHT" A))RETURN{};FOR(VAR D=0;A=C[D];++D){VAR E=A.GETATTRIBUTE("DATA-PAGPEED-URL-HASH");E&&(!(E B)&&0=B[E].O&&>=B[E].M)&&(B[E]={,,OW:A.NATURALWIDTH,OH:A.NATURALHEIGHT})}RETURN B}VAR C="";U("PAGPEED.CRILIMAG.GETBEANDATA",FUNCTN(){RETURN C});U("",FUNCTN(B,C,A,D,E,F){VAR R=NEW Y(B,C,A,E,F);X=R;D&&W(FUNCTN(){WDOW.SETTIMEOUT(FUNCTN(){A(R)},0)})});})();('/NGX_PAGPEED_BEAN',''S%20THE%20WORD','EVFAZEUQGZ',TE,FALSE,'0HWOKYR8HZU');
• PRI THE MOVIE: JONATHAN BLAKE, THE MPAIGNER PLAYED BY DOMIC WT, TALKS ABOUT HIV, THE MERS' STRIKE AND GAY RIGHTS

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

One of the first people the UK to be diagnosed wh the vis, he later got volved wh the mpaign group Lbians and Gays Support the Mers (LGSM), which is exactly what sounds like: a group of gay-rights activists aidg the strikg Welsh mers 1984 bee of their mutual hatred of Thatcher and the helped to raise thoands of dollars for the e, and a bond was stck between the two groups. At London's Gay Pri march 1985, the mers me up om South Wal by the bload, and the mg unn later ed s block vote to help enshre gay rights Brish law. So really, that is what gay pri is about: 's rememberg that we had to fight for our rights and we still have to fight for for LGSM, this year is a really important one, bee 's the 30th anniversary of when the mers me and they marched wh by Col Clews.

One is—and this was the gift of the South Wal mers—the mers' unn ed their block vote to get gay rights on to the Labour Party agenda. But then, I saw there was a group lled Gays for a Nuclear-Free Future who were gog to leave for a march om the bookshop Gay's The Word on April 1, 1983. " 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.

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

"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…'. "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.

JONATHAN BLAKE: “MERS PUT GAY RIGHTS ON THE POLIL AGENDA”

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

ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN BETA(FUNCTN(){FOR(VAR G="FUNCTN"==TYPEOF FEPROPERTI?FEPROPERTY:FUNCTN(B,C,A){IF(||)THROW NEW TYPEERROR("ES3 DO NOT SUPPORT GETTERS AND SETTERS.");B!=ARRAY.PROTOTYPE&&B!=OBJECT.PROTOTYPE&&(B[C])},H="UNFED"!=TYPEOF WDOW&&WDOW===THIS?THIS:"UNFED"!=TYPEOF GLOBAL&&NULL!=GLOBAL?GLOBAL:THIS,K=["STRG","PROTOTYPE","REPEAT"],L=0;LB||1342177279>>=1)C+=C;RETURN A};Q!=P&&NULL!=Q&&G(H,N,{NFIGURABLE:!0,WRABLE:!0,VALUE:Q});VAR T=THIS;FUNCTN U(B,C){VAR ("."),D=T;A[0] D||!D.EXECSCRIPT||D.EXECSCRIPT("VAR "+A[0]);FOR(VAR E;(());)||VOID 0===C?D[E]?D=D[E]:D=D[E]={}:D[E]=C};FUNCTN V(B){VAR ;IF(0=C.OFFSETWIDTH&&0>=C.OFFSETHEIGHT)A=!1;ELSE{D=C.GETBOUNDGCLIENTRECT();VAR ;("PAGEYOFFSET" WDOW?WDOW.PAGEYOFFSET:(DOCUMENT.DOCUMENTELEMENT||F.PARENTNO||F).SCROLLTOP);("PAGEXOFFSET" WDOW?WDOW.PAGEXOFFSET:(DOCUMENT.DOCUMENTELEMENT||F.PARENTNO||F).SCROLLLEFT);F=A.TOSTRG()+","+D;B.B.HASOWNPROPERTY(F)?A=!1:(B.B[F]=!0,A=(A+=E)}B.I&&(E="&RD="+ENURICOMPONENT(JSON.STRGIFY(B())),131072>(A+=E),C=!0);C=A;IF(C){D=B.H;B=B.J;VAR F;IF(WDOW.XMLHTTPREQUT)F=NEW XMLHTTPREQUT;ELSE IF(WDOW.ACTIVEXOBJECT)TRY{F=NEW ACTIVEXOBJECT("MSXML2.XMLHTTP")}TCH(R){TRY{F=NEW ACTIVEXOBJECT("MICROSOFT.XMLHTTP")}TCH(D){}}F&&(("POST",D+(-1==XOF("?")?"?":"&")+"URL="+ENURICOMPONENT(B)),F.SETREQUTHEAR("CONTENT-TYPE","APPLITN/X-WWW-FORM-URLEND"),(A))}}}FUNCTN B(){VAR B={},C;C=DOCUMENT.GETELEMENTSBYTAGNAME("IMG");IF(!)RETURN{};VAR A=C[0];IF(!("NATURALWIDTH" A&&"NATURALHEIGHT" A))RETURN{};FOR(VAR D=0;A=C[D];++D){VAR E=A.GETATTRIBUTE("DATA-PAGPEED-URL-HASH");E&&(!(E B)&&0=B[E].O&&>=B[E].M)&&(B[E]={,,OW:A.NATURALWIDTH,OH:A.NATURALHEIGHT})}RETURN B}VAR C="";U("PAGPEED.CRILIMAG.GETBEANDATA",FUNCTN(){RETURN C});U("",FUNCTN(B,C,A,D,E,F){VAR R=NEW Y(B,C,A,E,F);X=R;D&&W(FUNCTN(){WDOW.SETTIMEOUT(FUNCTN(){A(R)},0)})});})();('/NGX_PAGPEED_BEAN',''S%20THE%20WORD','EVFAZEUQGZ',TE,FALSE,'0HWOKYR8HZU');

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. Tim were tougher for lbians and gay men then.

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

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.