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No 1059 25 June 2015
18
Suitable only for persons of 18 years and over
Pride Heroes
Blue
Rebecca Ferguson
Trafalgar Square Acts and Running Order
London Gay Big Band
1200:
Mike & Hester
1230:
DJ Prince Persona
1255:
Michael Twaits
1300:
Eddy Queens
(PGT)
1305:
Sam, Dee & Alice
(PGT)
1315:
Danny Charles
(PGT)
1320:
Rajiv
(PGT)
1325:
Christopher Haul
(PGT)
1330:
Aidan Martinez
1345:
The Brooks
1400:
The Make A Difference Trust
presents
West End
Bares
1400:
Robin Windsor & Lisa Riley
1410:
Rachel Weston
1415:
Tim McArthur
1420:
Laura Nadia Hunt
(PGT)
1425:
Velma Celli
1430:
Dan Koek
1440: The Cast of
West End Bares
1445:
Collabro
1500: The
Pride in London
board,
Dusty O
and
Sandy
& Sandra from Gogglebox
1505:
Briefs
1525:
Mia Yamamoto
1535:
The Tailormade
(PGT)
1550:
BLUE
1610:
Remedy
1620:
La Voix
1640:
London Gay Big Band
1730:
The Supreme Fabulettes
1735:
Dorian Reland
– PGT winner in 2014
1745:
Charley Monroe
– PGT winner
1805:
Peter Tatchell
1820:
Bright Light Bright Light
1840:
Rebecca Ferguson
1900:
Pink Singers
1915:
Voi Voi
1925:
Mzz Kimberley
&
Soho Gospel
1935:
Beyoncé EXperience
1945:
BB Diamond
1955:
Drag Idol
&
Michael Twaits
2000: Stage Closes
Bright Light Bright Light
Peter Tatchell
La Voix
Collabro
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Once More With Pride:
LGSM March Again
Without last year’s critically acclaimed movie ‘Pride’ the story
of LGSM would likely have been lost forever in the annals of
queer history. Now, after a 30-year hiatus, the group have
reformed and will hoist their banners once again as they
march through the streets of London. Chris Godfrey talks
activism, Pride and LGBT rights with members of LGSM and
the mining community they strove to help.
ride is a very different beast to the
one that saw LGSM (Lesbians and
Gays Support the Miners) prowl
through the streets of London three
decades ago. It’s tamer, it’s put on
weight and it now comes sporting
a Starbucks branded tiara and
gloriously blue Barclays sash. It
hasn’t lost its roar though, and that it’s now the country’s
second biggest street party after Notting Hill Carnival is a
testament to how far LGBT rights in the UK have come.
But while Pride and LGBT rights in the UK have
transformed beyond recognition, the political landscape
bears more than a few similarities to that faced by LGSM
and the miners during the mid-eighties. An unexpected
conservative majority has promised more cuts to the tune
of £12 billion, trade unions face further strangulation, and
just last week 250,000 marched against austerity and the
damage its doing to the most vulnerable.
The parrallells aren’t lost on Dai Donavan, one of the
miners from the community portrayed in the film, who’ll be
marching with LGSM and the trade union bloc at the parade.
“Certainly it would be more redolent of 30 years ago
when the miners came to what was ostensibly a gay march,”
P
Birmingham Pride
he says. “But I do say to some friends and colleagues, if
you think [the last general election] was bad, just think what
it was like in March of ‘85, after a year on strike, having
made such strong bonds and relationships with groups all
over the country.”
Though LGSM has marched in recent Pride festivals their
reunion in London stands to be their biggest gathering since
the events of the movie. They’d originally been scheduled
to lead the entire parade but in a mark of solidarity with the
rest of the trade union bloc - itself too big to be pushed up
front - they opted to drop back and head up Section C.
Though there’s just 20 members of LGSM left at the
parade more than 200 will march under their banner, as
they’re joined by family, friends, the Tredegar Town Brass
Band and South Wales Gay Men’s Chorus. Such a display
of solidarity and support is a tribute to the strength of the
bonds made between two distinctly different groups.
“We were desperate for the assistance of workers up
and down the country,” says Donavan. “We were fortunate
that there were like-minded people in LGSM; that instead
of criticising the mining communities for their blasé
attitude to the attacks that lesbians and gay men had been
experiencing up and down the country, they offered their
hand of friendship.”
Sian James, also part of the mining community, readily
accepted the group’s support when it came, despite
concerns from others in her town. Since marching with
LGSM at Pride in the eighties, she’s continued her LGBT
advocacy over the years, both as an activist and a Member
of Parliament (culminating in her recent chairing of Swansea
Mardis Gras). When she marches at Pride in London, she’ll
do so with three generations of family by her side.
“What was really interesting over the years was to see
the atmosphere in a certain way change,” says James.
“In the early days you might just see gay people who are
brave enough to be out…and over the years what we saw
was people were bringing family, friends, neighbours. It
became a much more wider event in the community and
that’s been great.”
Since the miner’s strike, James became actively engaged
in various women’s rights campaigns and was eventually
elected to Parliament in 2005, becoming the Swansea East’s
first female representative and one of only eight women
MPs from Wales. It’s a highly successful career, one that’s
benefitted greatly from her experiences with LGSM.
“It’s very interesting that from our miner support group,
which was such a catalyst in my life, two of our members
became members of parliament: our Francis and myself,”
The
movie’s
had such
an impact
on us that
we’ve
reformed
and are
seeing a
lot more
of each
other. It’s
great,
we’ve
got our
legacy at
last
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says James. “I do think that that’s where we learnt to have
the confidence in things. We got the confidence in Wales.
And a big catalyst for us was LGSM.
“It gave us so many opportunities as activists and a lot of
those skills we learnt from the gay men and the gay women
that we met. We actually learnt that there was an art to
positive, passive resistance. We would never have learnt if
we hadn’t met up with these groups.”
James stood down as an MP in early 2015, but though
her career in Parliament may have drawn to a close she
remains politically active and regularly attends events as
a speaker. Her work as an activist is far from over, her
enthusiasm far from drained.
“We have a very famous banner in our community…
and it says ‘the price of freedom is eternal vigilance’,” says
James. “It means you can never take your foot off the pedal.
Whatever happens to have freedoms you have to look after
them, you have to protect them. The battle is never won; the
fight is never over. There will always be some unfairness that
will draw your attention back.”
It’s a sentiment that rings true with the remaining
members of LGSM. With the movie enjoying international
acclaim they’ve now reunited, reforming the group to pick
up from where they left off. As well as raising money for
The Mark Ashton Red Ribbon Fund (set up after Ashton
died of HIV, aged 26) the newly reformed LGSM are also
fundraising for the widows of Turkish miners that died
during in the 2014 Soma disaster, which killed 311 people.
“The movie has brought us all back together again,”
says Mike Jackson, who co-founded LGSM with Ashton and
operated as the group’s secretary. “Some of us have remained
friends, I probably had about half a dozen I’d kept in regular
contact with over the years. The movie’s had such an impact
on us that we’ve reformed and are seeing a lot more of each
other. It’s great, we’ve got our legacy at last.”
Though there was a period when Jackson stopped
attending Pride, he started going again six years ago. The
event’s current format is a stark contrast to what he was
used to as one of the early activists that fought for LGBT
visibility and equal rights at a time of institutionalised
homophobia.
“I’ve seen the huge transformation from a small and
highly politicised organisation - it’s still always had its fun
elements in, drag queens and so on - but now it’s a much
more commercial affair,” says Jackson. “I came out in 1973,
so my first pride march was in 1974. It was a tiny march
and a lot more political. There was a lot more the LGBT
community had to fight for back then.”
Back then even paying for visibility was a struggle. In
the late seventies Jackson tried to place an advert for the
North Staffordshire Gay Switchboard in one of the local
papers, but out of homophobia the editors refused to run
it (a decision which caused Jackson and the Switchboard’s
organisers to occupy the paper’s offices).
Today though, the world’s biggest corporations are
scrambling over themselves to be affiliated with the most high
profile Pride marches, stamping their logo on anything that so
much as glitters, rolling out rainbow editions of everything from
burgers to trainers. Even with this heavy commercialisation,
Jackson still sees the value in Pride parades.
“I think even more so,” he says, when pressed about the
political relevance of the parade. “One of the nice things
that Pride [in London] has done is have all the flags on the
march and that’s a reflection that this is a global movement.
There are 73 countries where it’s illegal, 10 where it’s a
capital offence. So I think we have a particular duty here
to reach out to the rest of the world and offer support and
practical help.
“This is the spirit of LGSM: just because we’ve got it
better here it’s even more imperative that we strike out
globally. If we have got our LGBT rights in Britain it’s
important that we help other countries to push for it.”
The film may be LGSM’s legacy but it’s the group’s
resolve that has had the more significant impact, one that
still resonates strongly with Donavon.
“At a time when that great union, the national union of
miners, was flickering and in danger of being extinguished,
there was another flame being ignited in the hearts and
minds of lesbians and gay people across the UK,” he says.
“You do not know where that flame will be picked up and
carried forward. I just feel that’s a justification for someone
like me, doing the work we do.”
Whether they’re continuing their work with the unions,
speaking about the importance of vigilance at public events
or supporting widows of deceased miners in Turkey, the
passion to help the vulnerable still burns strongly within
the LGSM community. At a time when Pride is locked in
arguments over UKIPers and ubiquitous advertising, LGSM
serves as a reminder of what is really important, of why
these marches are still of huge significance.
They may no longer be leading the parade, but they
symbolise everything Pride is about.
The battle
is never
won; the
fight is
never
over.
There will
always
be some
unfairness
that will
draw your
attention
back
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qxmagazine.com

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