Pride: The Unlikely Story of the True Heroes of the Miner's Strike [Paperback]

In 1984, a small group of gay men and lesbian women stepped away from London’s vibrant gay scene to support a beleaguered mining community in the remote valleys of South Wales. They did so in the midst of the 1984 miners’ strike—the most bitter and divisive dispute for more than half a century. In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher’s social and fiscal policies devastated Britain’s traditional industries, as AIDS began to claim lives across the nation. As the government and police battled "the enemy within" in communities across the land and newspapers whipped up fear of the gay "perverts" who were supposedly responsible for inflicting this disease, miners and homosexuals unexpectedly made a stand together and forged a lasting friendship. It was an alliance which helped keep an entire valley clothed and fed during the darkest months of the strike. And it led directly to unions and the Labour Party accepting gay equality as a cause to be championed.Pridetells the inspiring true story of how two very different communities—each struggling to overcome its own bitter internal arguments, as well as facing the power of a hostile government and press—found common cause against overwhelming odds. And how this one simple but unlikely act of friendship would, in time, help change life in Britain—forever. This is the true story that inspired the Golden Globe Award-nominated, GLAAD-nominated, BAFTA-winning filmPride. 

“The vital assistance provided by English gay and lesbian activists to striking Welsh miners in 1984 and 1985…is winningly presented in this oral history.”—Publishers Weekly

Tim Tateis a multiple award-winning documentary filmmaker who has made films for Discovery Channel, A&E networks, and Al Jazeera international.  LGSM(Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners) was the alliance formed in support of the stl£Ý