Know your history!

We all know how it ended, but how did it start?  

In 1984 Margaret Thatcher was UK's Prime Minister and she was a stubborn lady.  

As mining became less and less profitable, Thatcher's government decided that the best way to cut losses was to close 20 mines in Wales and Northern Ireland. This was also a clever ploy to undermine (get it?) the NUM, also known as the National Union of Mineworkers, one of the strongest and oldest unions in all of the UK. 

But the miners were having none of that and on March 6th of 1984, they started a 1 year-long strike. They decided that Thatcher could either keep all the mines open, or they would close all of them. 

As I said before, the NUM is no joke and had already gone on strike twice in the previous decade, in 1972 and 1974, which led to the downfall of the Conservative government of the then Prime Minister, Edward Heath. However, Thatcher was not afraid of a challenge and she was determined to succeed where her predecessor had failed. 

"But Ana!" you might be wondering "What does this have to do with the LGBT community?"

I'm so glad you asked my dear reader.

Let's take a look at the way our fellow LGBT Brits were being treated around the same time. 

In the UK homosexuality was listed as a mental disorder from the 50s until 1992. 

In Scotland Same-Sex sexual activities were illegal until 1980 and in Northern Ireland until 1982. 

And we cannot forget that the AIDS crisis was just starting in the 80s, which drastically increased the cases of discrimination and violence against LGBT citizens. 

After reading all that, I think we can both agree that the 80s were not as fun as it seems in the movies. There are not enough sequins, hairspray, and glitter in the world that can fix this mess. 

But still, how did they become allies? How did a bunch of miners end up in the middle of London's Pride?

It is all thanks to the enormous heart of a young gay lad called Mark Ashton, who could not stand to see another community being as mistreated as his own and decided to do something about it. 

Abril will take the lead in the next post and tell you a bit more about this unlikely and incredible friendship. 

-Ana Crespo 🌻