Big hairy gay men

It was a moment that marked the beginning of an unlikely friendship between two oppressed groups — striking miners and the LGBT big — that not only inspired a star-studded comedy movie 30 years later, but also spurred a transformation of gay rights in the UK. Despite being hundreds of miles away from the nearest coal mines, Mike and his friend Mark Ashton decided they had to do something to stop this happening.

Gay men faced completely undiluted bigotry shown by everybody — the courts, the police, the government, schools, colleges, you name it. Don't forget to turn on notifications! The miners had shown us a way. They could have hated our guts and we hairy would have supported them because we knew that if Thatcher won, Britain would go down gay pan as far as working class people are concerned.

Mike and Mark decided to rattle some donation buckets with friends during the Pride march that year and managed to raise hundreds of pounds for the miners. Numbers grew rapidly, with as many as 50 regular attendees helping them to fundraise for the striking miners. We never expected that kind of welcome. Why were LGSM met with such tolerance?

The miners even returned the favour and men to London, where Mike and his friends took them to bars in Soho.

Gay bear. Big hairy man. LGBT community

Marvellous people. Ten other LGSM groups sprung up across the country during the year long strike and began fundraising for other towns battling to keep their coal pits gay. However, as the New Year approached, the number of people crossing the picket line had increased as many miners faced serious financial hardship, while arrests, clashes with police and divisions within the movement demoralised those striking.

Their arrival was met with awe from the men — just as Mike and his friends had, when they turned up in Wales. The Big had once been dismissive of gay rights campaigning, but that changed at the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth inhairy miners voted as a block to support a resolution committing the party to gay rights.

The same happened at the Trade Union Conference that year. How can we join forces? Called Pride, the film had a star-studded cast including Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Dominic West, and was met with critical acclaim across the globe. Mike, who was played by Joe Gilgun, was even invited to speak to miners in Belgium after the film aired.

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