Solidarity Forever: 40 Years of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners

[diffrentcolours]

Tonight, me and V went to the People's History Museum for Solidarity Forever: 40 Years of Lesbians & Gays Support the Miners. We got there in time to see the original LGSM banner in the second floor exhibition hall, and to tour the pop-up exhibition of artefacts from the archives.

The main draw of the evening was Mike Jackson and Jonathan Blake, two of the original LGSM activists, doing a Q&A on stage. They set the background by talking about conditions for gay men in London in the 80s, and the founding of LGSM. There were anecdotes about skint LGSM activists entertaining striking miners in London, including Richard Coles playing piano at the then-new London Gay & Lesbian Centre for a sing along; a gay pub put on a vegetarian buffet but the miners got fish and chips because they thought it'd just be lettuce leaves!

There was an interesting discussion about the difference between solidarity and charity. LGSM were oppressed queers raising money for oppressed miners, but they integrated into each other's lives and built friendships which have lasted for decades, rather than being in a position of power over them and just handing over money with no personal involvement. And when the miners' strikes ended, the miners continue to support queer people at the TUC and Labour conferences, using the National Union of Miners bloc- vote to support LGBT rights, which is why Labour started supporting these issues (some 5 years after the Liberals).

There was a lot of ahistorical praise for Labour here. Civil Partnerships didn't happen because the UK finally got a Labour Government in 1997. It happened many years after, when that Government fought and lost a case in the European Court of Human Rights. Having previously rejected a Lib Dem private member's bill for French style civil unions, Labour introduced the bare minimum "separate and kind of equal" civil partnerships required to comply with the court judgement.

It's important that we get this history right. Same with the Gender Recognition Act. Same with serving in the UK military. Happened under Labour because the Government lost cases in ECHR. No Government in the UK has been on our side without the pressure of the courts and the public. If we want to stop the UK backsliding on LGBT+ rights, and maybe even make some forward progress, we need to build that support. We need to create the bandwagons that political parties can jump on.

There was really interesting discussion about where to draw hard lines and where you allow yourself to be flexible to build partnerships and solidarity in activism. No hard answers other than listening and going with your gut. But it was great to see these two old cis gay guys utterly committed to trans rights.

There was final question about disability representation and exclusion in LGBTQ+ spaces. It's been a problem for decades, because the people with the money don't listen. The final summing up was by new PHM director Clare Barlow. It's the museum's first major exhibition since she took over and she's thrilled it's about solidarity, class and queerness.