Hello, everyone! It's so great to have you here!
This is Abril. Here you can read about the LGSM, hope you enjoy it! 😄
Because of Thatcher’s free-market policies, a great number of coal mines all over the UK were closed. Many coal mining communities organized strikes against this, enduring police brutality and social discrimination.
Some members of the LGBT from London, seeing as the miners were as mistreated as them, decided to create a support group to help them. This organization was called LGSM (“Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners”). No, "L" doesn't stand for London and "S" does not mean Sagittaurus.
The LGSM was founded in London in July the 30th, 1984 by Mark Ashton and Mike Jackson. Their aim was to raise funds to support the miners that participated in the strikes against Thatcher to feed their families.
The main members of this group were: Mark Ashton (1960 - 1987), its co-founder, a member of the LGSM switchboard and activist of the LGBT rights, Mike Jackson, its co-founder and LGBT activist, and Jonathan Blake, an LGBT activist and one of the first British people to be diagnosed in the 1980s with HIV (he is still alive, no worries).
Despite their good intentions, not many joined the LGSM and many people were not in favour of supporting a cause led by what they considered as “pervs”. Because of this, the LGSM decided to support a particularly stricken Welsh mining village: Onllwyn. David "Dai" Donovan (God bless his Gaelic soul), one of the members of the Onllwyn miner community, became the intermediary between these and the LGSM.
Some of the most conservative (and homophobic, let's be honest) members of the Onllwyn miner support group reported LGSM to the media, afraid of the impact that the support by LGBT members would have on their community. They mocked the LGSM and the Welsh miners by labelling them as “pits and perverts”. Instead of putting an end to the group, they organised took their slurs and, as Tyrion Lannisters once said, "used them like and armour". They organized the “Pits and Perverts” fundraiser. This was a concert the 10th of December 1984, with music groups such as Bronski Beat.
With this, the LGSM raised £5,650 to support the miners. Despite this, the National Union of Miners (NUM) decided to refuse the LGSM help, which led to many of its members, including Ashton, abandoning the group.
Gethin Roberts, the owner of the bookshop “Gays the World” where the LGSM meetings took place, attempted to lead a protest on his own but was assaulted and hospitalized. Later on, on March 3rd, Thatcher forced the miners to stop the strike (what a surprise, Maggie).
However, in appreciation for their help during the 1984-85 strike, some South Wales mining communities joined the LGBT in London's Pride parade in 1985 to show their gratitude towards the LGSM. Mark Ashton unfortunately died of pneumonia on 11th February 1987.
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