Gays and lesbians support the miners

The political belief of many LGSM members was that solidarity between all working class people was important — that if the Thatcher government broke the National Union of Mineworkers NUMthe whole working class would be worse off, no matter their sexuality.

Jonathan Blake directly connects the efforts made by the NUM in these years to the successful passing of the Civil Partnership Act, showing the kind of lasting power that acts of solidarity can have. The miners dig coal which creates fuel, which creates electricity.

Some LGSM members had grown up in, and left, pit towns because of bad experiences with homophobia and were unsure how they would be received in Onllwyn. Jonathan Blake explained that police would take positions across the road from the bookshop and if the fundraisers stepped over the property line marked by tiles for even a minute, the police could arrest them for obstructing the public footpath.

Mike Jackson said it was like coming home. Unable to donate directly to the union, supporters “twinned” with particular mining towns or pits to offer support. Solidarity overrode the societally acceptable homophobia of the day.

Joining us to explore this historical moment and the legacy that it created is People’s History Museum’s (PHM) Collections Assistant Jaime Starr. Many LGSM members were active in leftwing and socialist political activism.

Are you more independent or community focused? Among these supporters was Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM). The group took off after a striking miner spoke to gay activists following the Lesbian and Gay Pride March in London. We marched to the cemetery.

Take our quick quiz to find out which radical you are! Jonathan remembers being open about being HIV positive with some of the friends he made there and experienced no bigotry or cruelty. Their main goal was to raise money to support the miners and their families, as many were experiencing financial hardship while they were out on strike.

Lesbians amp Gays Support

Their worries were unfounded. E-news Today Support Us. Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) was an alliance of lesbians and gay men who supported the National Union of Mineworkers during the year-long strike of – marks the 40th anniversary of Lesbians and Gay s Support the Miners (LGSM), which formed in the early months of the to Miners’ Strike.

Experimental or measured? About us Work with us Contact us. Prefer work or play? E-news Donate now. The idea that working class and rural communities are more homophobic than others is rooted in classism. Would you go down a mine and work? In this first of two blogs Jaime will discuss how LGSM formed and how events unfolded 40 years ago; dispelling some myths along the way.

Lesbians and Gays Support

The police were known to harass collectors, on one occasion arresting LGSM members for their fundraising activities with no legal reason to detain them. Now we will support you. While politics was a main driving force for many members, some saw LGSM as a way to connect to community, like Jonathan Blake who had become socially isolated after becoming one of the first people in the UK to be diagnosed with HIV.

At the time, homophobia and transphobia was normalised in British society, increasing in ferocity as the HIV epidemic grew. On the contrary, families were very keen to host LGSM members.