Everything you need to know about Striking With Pride: United at the Coalface
Striking With Pride: United at the Coalface is a brand-new Sky Original feature documentary that explores the unlikely alliance forged between the gay men and lesbians of London, and the striking miners of South Wales, between the 1984 and 1985 London Prides.
The two communities, seemingly worlds apart, became united allies for a common cause in the face of immense challenges.
Their work together changed history for queer rights in the UK, with the legacy those involved created still being felt to this day.
The documentary features exclusive access to a range of key contributors, including former Labour MP Siân James, LGSM co-founder Mike Jackson, and Jonathan Blake.
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK finalist, Tayce, dons her iconic Welsh dragon look to narrate the film, telling the powerful tale to a group of children in a playful and poignant story time session which highlights the lasting impact this story has had on communities 40 years later.
What happened in the miners’ strike of 1984-1985?
Upon the news that Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative government were planning on shutting down 20 coal mines, miners started the biggest industrial movement in post-war Britain.
With 20,000 job losses expected as a result of the closures, up to 75% of the country’s approximate 187,000 miners joined the strike.
While the timeline over the start of the strike is disputed, the Cortonwood Colliery in South Yorkshire downing tools on March 5, 1984, is often marked as a major start to the efforts.
The National Union of Mineworkers officially declared the strike on March 12.
There had been two previous strikes by the NUM in 1972 and 1974, resulting in nationwide blackouts with power stations quickly running out of fuel.
As a result, the government had stockpiled up to six months’ worth of coal in preparation for any potential future strikes. Anti-strike legislation had also been put in place.
The picket lines often became violent between protesters and the police, with up to 11,000 arrests throughout the period of the strike.
After a year of protesting, working-class families of strike workers really began to struggle, with minimal income coming into their homes.
Many were living off donations to support their families, which was even more strangled when Thatcher’s government sequestered NUM funds.
On March 3, 1985, the NUM held a special conference, where coalfield delegates begrudgingly voted to end the strike with a narrow victory in the votes.
Miners returned to their positions on March 5, and in the decades that followed, all coal mines were closed.
The last deep coal mine, Kellingley Colliery in North Yorkshire, closed in December 2015.
Who were the LGSM and how were they involved in the strike?
Activist group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) was formed in June 1984, with members of London’s LGBTQ community coming out in support of the strike.
It was set up to hit back at the sequestered funds of the NUM, with the group “twinning” with the Welsh Dulais Support Group and Swansea Valleys Miners Support Groups in order to raise them money and buy them a red bus the groups could use to travel around the county to give speeches for the cause.
They started raising money by collecting donations at the 1984 Pride March in London, getting £150 from others in the community.
Over the course of the year, the London sector raised £22,500 - the equivalent of £85,000 today, with more than a dozen other groups around the country by that name joining in the effort.
In return, miners’ support groups started supporting LGBTQ rights as well, even leading London’s Gay Pride March in 1985, and being outspoken against Thatcher’s Section 28 in 1988 – legislation that “prohibited the promotion of homosexuality”.
What films were inspired by the Striking With Pride alliance?
In 2014, the heartwarming alliance between the two communities was recreated in the much-celebrated film, Pride.
The film stars Dominic West (The Crown, The Wire), Joseph Gilgun (Misfits, Brassic), Imelda Staunton (The Crown, Vera Drake), Paddy Considine (Hot Fuzz, House Of The Dragon), and Jessica Gunning (Baby Reindeer).
It follows the LGBT rights activists and how their tentative alliance between them and the Welsh miners became one of the most enduring in UK history.
The film was nominated for 25 awards, winning 10, including a BAFTA Film Award, with Stephen Beresford and David Livingstone being recognized for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.
Where to watch Striking With Pride: United at the Coalface in the UK
Sky is the exclusive home of Striking With Pride: United at the Coalface documentary.
The 76-minute long film is available to watch now.
You can watch the series on Sky Documentaries, on demand via Sky Go, or by streaming on NOW.