Gays and lesbians support the miners

The alliance between LGSM and the South Wales striking miners and their families was an important factor in turning the tide in the trade union movement in favour of equality measures for lesbians and gay men. Support civil liberties and the struggle of lesbians and gay people. [1][2][2]. Papers, photographs, press cuttings, flyers, correspondence, ephemera belonging to Mike Jackson regarding the activist group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, [].

Bronski Beat featuring Jimmy Somerville were the headline act at the benefit. Back Forward. The group took off after a striking miner spoke to gay activists following the Lesbian and Gay Pride March in London. What did LGSM do to support the Onllwyn miners in Wales and their families? Among these supporters was Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM). Unable to donate directly to the union, supporters “twinned” with particular mining towns or pits to offer support.

  • Diarmaid Kelliher is a PhD student in Geography at the University of Glasgow, researching support groups in London during the –5 British miners’ strike. Most of the work for this article was undertaken while studying for an MA in Contemporary History and Politics at Birkbeck College, and working in the Information Service at the Trades Union Congress.

    • Explore our online events Read our latest Stories Discover our archives. Among these supporters was Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM). At the height of the miners’ strike ina group of miners and their supporters from the Dulais Valley were supported by campaigners from London – Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM). In MarchPrime Minister Margaret Thatcher issued a major industrial shut down of coal mines up and down the country which spurred a yearlong strike.

    LGSM members took collection buckets to LGBTQIA+ venues across London, raising thousands of pounds for the miners to use as they needed, to buy food and other necessities they couldn’t afford while on strike. The LGSM story is told in the film Pride, and the group reformed in October to respond to the new wave of interest in our story.

    We welcome the links forged with South Wales and other areas. 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 – As ofeleven LGSM groups had emerged in the UK. The original London-based group alone raised approximately £22, (equivalent to £86, in ) in support for strikers.

    Find out more. Come on in to explore our archives, take a course, or hire our amazing spaces. So, thanks to the selfless acts of solidarity shown by the LGBT community, the miners accepted placing gay rights into the Labour party’s agenda, stating their slogan, ‘Miners supports Gays and Lesbians’. The supporters were bus loads of Welsh miners whom had been touched by the overwhelming generosity of the group, ‘ Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners ’ or LGSM.

    The group took off after a striking miner spoke to gay activists following the Lesbian and Gay Pride March in London. Our struggle is yours. 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 – As ofeleven LGSM groups had emerged in the UK.

    The re-formed Lesbians and Gay Men Support the Miners (LGSM) decided on 9 October that we would wind down as a current campaigning force and focus on the task of keeping alive the legacy of our work in and putting together a digital historical archive of documents, photos, personal stories, videos, audio recordings and all other. Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, in collaboration with Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants, are excited to announce Pits and Perverts Come along and celebrate the 40th anniversary of LGSM’s ‘Pits and Perverts Ball’, a fundraiser for mining families in Wales during the miners’ strike.

    Eleven people attended that first meeting and over sixty people were involved in LGSM by the end of the strike in March The money raised was used to sustain striking miners and their families throughout the duration of the strike. Our beautiful Victorian building is a place for people to connect over a shared love of learning. Victory to the miners.