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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,640 This programme contains very strong language 2 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:05,000 that may be considered offensive. 3 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:30,920 INTERVIEWER: What were you like as a kid? 4 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,160 I was very, very happy, go lucky. 5 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:35,840 I would never ever take this make-up off. 6 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:38,040 You would catch me running around the neighbourhood, 7 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:40,320 skateboarding in a skirt. 8 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:42,160 It's quite rare that, isn't it? 9 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:43,760 Oh definitely, yeah. 10 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:48,160 I mean, not a lot of parents, um you know, don't really want 11 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:52,920 to let their kids express themselves in that kind of way. 12 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:54,320 It's not always been easy. 13 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:56,040 I mean, there's always gonna be people 14 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:58,360 who don't really like, you know, you. 15 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:01,680 I was walking home from school one day and this woman saw me 16 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:03,240 and I guess she really didn't like 17 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:05,080 my outfit that I was wearing at the time. 18 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:07,200 And she just decided to spit at me. 19 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,240 Which is kind of rude, very rude. 20 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:11,760 Like, I'm not harming anyone. 21 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:13,800 So, you know, my parents already said, you know, 22 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:15,640 "As long as you're not hurting anybody, 23 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:17,280 you can do what you want to do.' 24 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:20,120 Oh wow! 25 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:21,440 Wow! 26 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:22,680 MAN: What do you think, Bea? 27 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:25,039 I think I quite like it. 28 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:27,280 It's like the Yellow Brick Road. The Yellow Brick Road. 29 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:29,000 It is. That's exactly what I was thinking. 30 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:38,600 MARGARET THATCHER: "Children who need to be taught to respect 31 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:42,120 traditional moral values are being taught that 32 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:44,600 they have an inalienable right to be gay.' 33 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:46,720 Has anyone seen a drag queen before? 34 00:01:46,759 --> 00:01:48,520 Yeah, I have seen loads. 35 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:50,440 Jacob, have you ever seen a drag queen? 36 00:01:50,479 --> 00:01:52,920 No. You haven't?Never. 37 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:02,640 NEIL KINNOCK: What we're witnessing is an even greater abyss of division 38 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:05,000 than that which we witnessed previously. 39 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:09,520 The violence and intimidation we have seen should never have happened. 40 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,280 It is the work of extremists. It is the enemy within.' 41 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:16,240 WOMAN: (ON PHONE) A homosexual act is unnatural. 42 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:18,920 It's perverted and it's incredibly filthy. 43 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:24,320 Shut it down! 44 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,040 Shut it down! Shut it down! 45 00:02:27,079 --> 00:02:30,760 Two groups of protestors clashed outside a children's drag story time 46 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:32,360 in Forest Hill this morning. 47 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,800 TAYCE: Some people think that what we're doing today is wrong. 48 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,840 It feels like things are starting to go backwards. 49 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,040 So today, I am showing them that we will not be stopped 50 00:02:42,079 --> 00:02:44,440 and that there's nothing to be afraid of. 51 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:46,760 I'm going to take these kids to another world... 52 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:50,240 ..and tell them a story with an important lesson. 53 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:53,079 That we're stronger together. 54 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:55,680 Oh, oh, oh, oh! 55 00:02:55,720 --> 00:03:00,440 What is going on over here? 56 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:02,280 Hello, hello, hello. 57 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:04,360 ALL: Hi. Yeah! 58 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:06,400 Did somebody call for a drag queen? 59 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:08,000 ALL: Yeah. 60 00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:14,000 I've got some juicy gossip for you, OK. Are you ready? 61 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:26,400 MAN: If you know what a coal mine looks like, 62 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:29,360 get a job in Britain's modern mining industry, 63 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:31,840 and get more out of life. 64 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:34,720 # Hey there, miner, 65 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:37,480 # Living life the way you want it to be 66 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:39,280 # Come on now, miner, 67 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,400 # Let's mine you Lots of money and security! # 68 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:43,880 Be a miner. 69 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:47,360 Ask at your local pit or job centre in South Wales. 70 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:52,760 Can anybody tell me what a miner is? 71 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,160 Mmmm... You, my lovely. 72 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:57,280 These miners were mining coal. 73 00:03:57,320 --> 00:03:59,880 Yes! Well done, baby. Well done. 74 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:02,720 One of the big places where coal mining happened 75 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:06,080 was in my ends, gorgeous South Wales. 76 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:08,280 And this is where our story begins. 77 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:11,160 Mining was hard, scary work. 78 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:13,600 And even though there was so much risk involved, 79 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:15,000 the men that did it, loved it. 80 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:23,560 I think I was like most people. 81 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:26,000 I just wanted to go to work 82 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:28,760 and do a fair day's work for a fair day's pay, really. 83 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:32,400 Well, my father, all of my uncles, 84 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:37,240 my grandfather, my step-grandfather, they all worked in the colliery. 85 00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:39,920 I remember as a child sleeping in my grandmother's, 86 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:42,640 which has got quite a steep hill outside it. 87 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:45,000 And early in the morning, 88 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:49,320 the colliery's siren would go to call the shift, 89 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:54,240 and I remember the hobnail boots of men walking down the hill, you know. 90 00:04:56,159 --> 00:05:00,160 But do you know, there was something comforting about it, really. 91 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:03,560 One got used to the idea that they would always be there. 92 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:09,480 (CHILD SHOUTS) 93 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:15,040 SIAN JAMES: Everybody knew everybody else's business. 94 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:18,920 The land of the moving curtain. 95 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:23,440 (LAUGHS) You know, all those lace nets were twitching away. 96 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:26,680 I was a very happy housewife. 97 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:28,720 As long as my mother could come and visit me 98 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:31,840 and not find any evidence of dust. (LAUGHS) 99 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,360 You know, literally, "Ah. Hm.' 100 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:38,600 You know, not a word was said. 101 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,360 So, I grew up in an atmosphere 102 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:44,400 where you did your best by your neighbours 103 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:46,840 and your neighbours did their best by you. 104 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:52,640 And that community spirit was very, very safe. 105 00:05:58,840 --> 00:06:04,080 Without even realising it, you were absorbing a sense of community. 106 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,440 You were absorbing a sense of... of pride. 107 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:12,960 All the miners paid a contribution and we built these welfare halls 108 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,800 and they became centres of education. 109 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:17,240 They had libraries. 110 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:19,840 But they became centres of enjoyment, 111 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:22,760 and the focus of these communities. 112 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:25,240 (LAUGHTER & CHATTER) 113 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:36,280 If you are a miner, everybody's having a couple of pints, 114 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:38,040 nearly every night. 115 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:40,720 Every day, you'd have a laugh. Every day. 116 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:42,960 Yeah, there was always banter going on. 117 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:46,560 I could name everybody down- down the street, 118 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:48,440 from the bottom all the way up. 119 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:50,760 And that would be about 60 houses or more. 120 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:00,960 (MALE VOICE CHOIR SINGING) 121 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:07,680 Male voice choirs, they were very strong in those mining communities. 122 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:09,440 The sheer joy, if you like, 123 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,560 of going in and listening to a male voice choir. 124 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:15,680 That was something that pleased the community. 125 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:20,560 Concerts happened usually within the Welfare Hall. 126 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:22,320 (MALE VOICE CHOIR SINGING) 127 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:26,800 # ..Loose the folds asunder 128 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:31,480 # Flag we conquer under! 129 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:36,240 # The placid sky now bright on high 130 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:40,800 # Shall launch its bolts in thunder! 131 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,760 I think there was that brief period of time, 132 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:48,040 between the Second World War and Margaret Thatcher, 133 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:51,360 when there was a feeling of optimism. 134 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:55,320 And it was, in many ways, an idyllic upbringing, really. 135 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:59,080 And we did feel as though everything was possible. 136 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:05,840 # Freedom, God and Right! # 137 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:08,680 The only cloud on the horizon was 138 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:12,560 Margaret Thatcher with her new plan for Britain. 139 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:22,160 Where there is discord, may we bring harmony, 140 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:25,280 and where there is despair, may we bring hope. 141 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:28,960 REPORTER: The rioters came from behind the security of 142 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:31,360 their burning barricades to lob petrol bombs. 143 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:35,840 REPORTER: Over three million people are now claiming benefits. 144 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:40,200 I grew up in the '30s with an unemployed father. 145 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:41,799 He didn't riot. 146 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:44,039 He got on his bike and looked for work 147 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:46,200 and he kept looking till he found it. 148 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:51,320 What we were seeing was vast numbers of people 149 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:54,440 in the United Kingdom being chucked on the scrapheap, 150 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:57,560 being made redundant, and put on the dole queue. 151 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:01,000 And that motivated people, at this point in time, 152 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:03,680 to say, "This is our fight.' 153 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:12,240 The National Executive Committee declare the proposed strike action 154 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:15,840 in Yorkshire and Scotland, and in any other area 155 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:17,840 which takes similar action, as official. 156 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:23,240 The miners were on strike because the government intended 157 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:25,480 to close 20 pits, 158 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:29,440 and, in that process, was going to lose 20,000 jobs. 159 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:31,080 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 160 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:37,520 In South Wales, everybody was on strike. 161 00:09:37,560 --> 00:09:42,680 In our particular area, I believe there were 2,500 miners on strike. 162 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:46,680 A striking miner had no money coming in. 163 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:49,080 Nothing. 164 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:51,680 If you haven't got money, you can't feed yourself. 165 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:56,960 SIAN: We had ยฃ10 a week, what was then known as family allowance, 166 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:01,360 and ยฃ10.60 a week benefit. 167 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:04,760 It was like a constant robbing Peter to pay Paul. 168 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:08,360 I had two small children, and the ice cream man used 169 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:10,880 to come round and, er, and you just couldn't afford 170 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:14,600 to buy them an ice cream, like. Oh, it was bloody heart breaking. 171 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:19,360 The minute you went on strike, you were deemed to make yourself 172 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:21,440 deliberately unemployed. 173 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:25,480 So, the men were not eligible for any form of benefit. 174 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:30,120 And in some families, you might have the father on strike, 175 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:33,800 two brothers on strike, you know. 176 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:38,640 And so, absolutely no money coming in at all. 177 00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:42,200 A couple of weeks or so into the strike, 178 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:47,200 we decided to try and start getting food donations, 179 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:49,680 so financial donations, to help. 180 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:01,000 Everybody did their bit, and my role, 181 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:04,200 very early on in the strike, was very traditional. 182 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:09,320 I had no worries about selling raffle tickets door to door, 183 00:11:09,360 --> 00:11:14,360 selling plants door to door, um, asking for donations. 184 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:18,560 If that's what it took to keep us out on strike, 185 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:20,840 I wasn't too proud to do that. 186 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:28,920 It's all a bit of a blur really, because one minute there was 187 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:33,640 just this little, small idea of gathering a few things together, 188 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:37,440 and then we founded the Neath & District Miners Support Group 189 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:42,200 to provide food for families of striking miners, as simple as. 190 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:44,760 DAVID WILLIAMS: Took some organising, fair play to 'em, 191 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:47,360 but leave it to a woman, isn't it? They'd organise it. 192 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:49,680 I think we'd be just scratching our heads and going, 193 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:51,360 "Where do we start?' (LAUGHS) 194 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:56,360 MARTIN: My wife, she was always collecting money, 195 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:58,720 and when this came along, it was... 196 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:01,920 she stepped into it and took over like. 197 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:06,960 We wanted people to have dignity and make decisions. 198 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:11,600 So in our support group, it was fundraising was the big thing. 199 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:16,200 Raise the funds, so then we could provide a food parcel 200 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:18,600 every week, for everybody. 201 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:24,120 And we had between about 800 or 900 mining families to support. 202 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:28,600 And we had to raise, you know, about ยฃ5,000 a week. 203 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:32,360 Well, Tesco give us a load of carrier bags. 204 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:38,400 Loaf of bread, milk, corned beef. Nothing the matter with corned beef. 205 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:40,920 You can do a lot with corned beef. Corned beef stew. 206 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:43,520 Corned beef hash. Corned beef pie. Corned beef and chips. 207 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:48,720 I heard somebody with a food parcel, he had, er, spaghetti. 208 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:51,120 And er, I think there was an announcement you know, 209 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:55,800 in a meeting, "For fuck's sake. Don't put it in the chip pan.' 210 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:57,440 (ALL LAUGH) 211 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:05,280 If your colliery was the one that was going to close, 212 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:06,800 what happened to you? 213 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:09,200 People would lose their jobs. 214 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:11,320 That's "coal not dole". 215 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:13,760 "I can't find another job.' Where do you from there? 216 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:18,400 If my husband loses his job now, he will never work again. 217 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:31,000 It was either we fought for our jobs or we laid back and said, 218 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:33,040 "Right-oh. You can do what you want.' 219 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:36,440 One of the biggest questions I was asked was, 220 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:40,920 "Why are you fighting so hard to keep these awful jobs?' 221 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:45,880 My answer to that was, "What else is there for us?' 222 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:49,640 (TAYCE READING ALOUD) 223 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:56,520 What do you think the miners and their families would have 224 00:13:56,560 --> 00:13:59,200 been thinking? The stupid Prime Minister says, 225 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:01,960 "We should close down all the mines.'Yes. 226 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:07,040 Well as actually, you need the mines to pay the bills and to have heat. 227 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:12,280 It would be really challenging because you need, like, money 228 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:14,120 to do a lot of things, like... 229 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:15,680 Imagine if you were in that position. 230 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:17,120 You'd want somebody to help you. 231 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:20,480 Yes. Imagine walking a mile in someone else's shoes? 232 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:24,200 Right, now that you've met the Welsh lot, 233 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:26,400 it's time to meet the other heroes of our story. 234 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:29,440 They lived a long way from the valley, in London. 235 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:32,400 (CHORAL RENDITION OF "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer") 236 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:41,000 Beginning of 1984, I would have been 29. 237 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:45,120 I'd been out for ten years by then. 238 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:48,320 I was really, really happy, and I was free, 239 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:50,040 I was having lots of sex, 240 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:54,600 and meeting people who were similar to me, people who were left-wing, 241 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:57,960 working class, and who were gay. That was great. 242 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:05,000 # ..I feel love... 243 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:11,080 There was a gay bar in King's Cross called The Bell that became 244 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,880 really an important venue for people to go to. 245 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:17,320 There was very high unemployment in those days, 246 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:20,880 so people could come and spend their giros at The Bell. 247 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:23,800 NICOLA FIELD: I loved going to The Bell. 248 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:28,040 It was where you did everything and where you met everyone. 249 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:31,720 You just danced and got off with people. 250 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:35,400 You know, I'd come to London from the home counties 251 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,160 from a very you know, conservative family. 252 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:40,240 I didn't want to be the kind of woman 253 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:42,640 that I was being trained to be. 254 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:47,760 I couldn't cope with all the nylon tights and the high heels 255 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:49,720 and underskirts that you had to wear. 256 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:55,880 We all were part of creating a community of defiant resistance. 257 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:59,400 (MALE VOICE CHOIR CONTINUES) 258 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:07,240 # I feel love... 259 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:12,000 London as a young gay person was the only place to be really. 260 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:15,400 You were surrounded by people like you. 261 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:17,040 (CROWD CHANTING INDISTINCTLY) 262 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:23,640 Pride marches, really, were the single most important event, 263 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:25,640 without a doubt. 264 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:29,800 And it was a really exhilarating, thrilling experience just walking 265 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:35,520 down the street with hundreds, thousands of other LGBT people. 266 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:39,080 It was joyous to say, "We're here, we're queer, 267 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:41,160 and we're not going away.' 268 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:43,840 The people who tended to go on the Pride march in those days 269 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:48,440 were-were the more political elements of the LGBT community. 270 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:50,520 # THE CURE: Boys Don't Cry # 271 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:04,480 I bumped into Mark Ashton just before the Gay Pride march, 272 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:06,200 er, was about to take place. 273 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:10,839 Mark grew up in a working-class seaside town in Northern Ireland. 274 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:14,240 It was definitely in his early 20s when he became politicised. 275 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:17,480 He joined the Communist Party. 276 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:20,560 We were comrades, we were friends. 277 00:17:20,599 --> 00:17:24,400 Mark said, "How about taking a couple of buckets to collect 278 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:26,720 for the striking miners on the Pride march?' 279 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:28,480 I said, "Ooh, that's a great idea.' 280 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:31,760 The miners' strike has been described 281 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:34,160 as a Civil War without guns. 282 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:36,480 And that's exactly what it was. 283 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:39,120 It completely split the country. 284 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,120 You were either for the miners or against the miners. 285 00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:44,040 MAN: Support the miners! 286 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:48,520 Mark and I were really pleasantly surprised 287 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:51,920 quite how much support we got from the other people marching with us. 288 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:53,760 "I hate Thatcher.' 289 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:57,680 You know, gleefully putting some money in the bucket. 290 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:00,160 They'd also be saying, "My dad's a miner.' 291 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:02,880 "My uncle's a miner.' "My grandad was a miner.' 292 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:08,240 And that really was the beginning of lesbians and gays 293 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:12,000 supporting the miners. We gave birth that day. (LAUGHS) 294 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:14,520 I already knew Mark. 295 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:18,000 He spoke in such a vivid way 296 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:20,680 that it educated you just to listen to him. 297 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:23,160 But he was also giggly, 298 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:27,200 and witty, and lovable. 299 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:29,600 MARK: Like, there are three and a half million people 300 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,040 unemployed in this country. Where the hell are these jobs 301 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:34,240 coming from that these miners are all going to go into? 302 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:36,200 But the point is, we're going to win. 303 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:38,840 We're going to beat these bastards, and we're going to beat them 304 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,640 so far back, that they'll never come back again. 305 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:45,240 We decided the most natural place to collect funds 306 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:48,120 was outside lesbian and gay venues. So, that's what we did. 307 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:50,520 You had a big bucket... 308 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:54,360 ..and it had, 'Support the Miners,' round it. 309 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:56,200 And you shook it. 310 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:02,440 Support the miners. Support the miners. 311 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:04,720 "Lesbian & Gays Support the Miners! 312 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:06,640 Spare some change. 313 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:10,680 Lesbian & Gays Support the Miners. Spare some...' (LAUGHS) 314 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:13,760 We'd have great fun when we were doing collecting. 315 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:15,880 I mean, The Bell was always the favourite place 316 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:17,320 for people to collect. 317 00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:21,680 And it did get a bit silly sometimes because we'd have, like, 318 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:25,600 eight LGSM people shaking buckets on the door, 319 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:28,920 um, because we were not only collecting for the miners, 320 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,760 We were also trying to pick people up at the same time. (LAUGHS) 321 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:36,400 'Lesbians & Gays Support the Miners', you know, 322 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:39,400 it was a wonderful, kind of, community atmosphere. 323 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:43,920 I was a very insecure person, so it was just seeking 324 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:46,880 a kind of possibility of just being myself. 325 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:51,240 There were a lot of people who were angry 326 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:56,400 that we were collecting for this group of people. 327 00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:58,800 You know, "What have they got to do with us? 328 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:00,280 What were they giving us? 329 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:02,880 What about all the people who were sort of, you know, 330 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:05,440 living and dying from HIV Aids?' 331 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:07,400 INTERVIEWER: A lot of people will say, you know, 332 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:11,280 if you're collecting, that, "Why should we support the miners cos the miners don't support us?' 333 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:14,760 What do you tell people who say that to you?Well, I mean, what do you mean when they say, 334 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:17,160 "The miners don't support us?' The miners dig coal, 335 00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:20,840 which creates fuel, which actually, makes electricity. 336 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:22,760 I mean, would you go down a mine and work? 337 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:24,600 I wouldn't like to go down a mine and work. 338 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:27,040 One of the reasons I support miners is because they go down 339 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:28,240 and do it. I wouldn't do it. 340 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:33,680 JOHNNY PALMER: Took some degree of courage to stand there. 341 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:37,520 There was something deeply political 342 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:40,120 just about being yourself. 343 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:45,480 In the high street, it meant, "Hello, everybody, I'm gay. 344 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,560 Hello, everybody, I'm gay. Hello, everybody, I'm gay.' 345 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:54,600 Once, a guy, um, came up to me at The Bell and said, um, 346 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:58,240 "Why should I?' And as I opened my mouth 347 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:01,800 to try to explain, he actually head-butted me. 348 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:10,040 Of course, society was deeply homophobic. 349 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:13,720 The laws reflected that, the opinions reflected that. 350 00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:19,200 "Poof, bender, queer, gay boy, bum boy.' 351 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:20,720 You know, the list is endless. 352 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:24,320 It was so part of 353 00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:28,200 the atmosphere of the landscape. It just was. 354 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:30,320 INTERVIEWER: What would you do if you found out 355 00:21:30,360 --> 00:21:32,840 your sister was a lesbian? Um, kill her. 356 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:35,280 Why are you concerned about lesbian? 357 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:37,160 By any chance, is there a lesbian around? 358 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,240 Yeah, me. Me too.(LAUGHS) 359 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:43,280 Do you know, there were still, um, queer youth on the street 360 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:46,640 being thrown out at 15 and 16, because they'd come out. 361 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,200 And their father wouldn't tolerate it. 362 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:53,800 MAN: I know my reaction, I couldn't believe it. 363 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:56,400 I mean, I was a macho man. 364 00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:58,680 I'd come from the North. I was a... 365 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:02,560 You know, we didn't have homosexuals in working-class families. 366 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:04,760 It was only... There were poofs, weren't there? 367 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:06,520 Oh, well, you know. We didn't... 368 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:08,120 We didn't father poofs. 369 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:12,640 The people who fathered poofs were rich people or upper-class people. 370 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:15,640 And to be honest, I thought he was a little bastard. 371 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:18,440 And if I'd had got my hands on him then, I would have killed him. 372 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:23,000 Just being openly yourself in the street... 373 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:26,800 ..was an offence against public decency. 374 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:30,560 You were to be stamped on. You were to be wiped out. 375 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:32,920 You were to be kept hidden. 376 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:37,600 You could choose to sort of remain, um, camouflaged, 377 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:39,920 or you could choose to try and live your life 378 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,240 as you wished to and take the risks. 379 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:49,400 I grew up on an island in Scotland, rural community. 380 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:53,120 On my 18th birthday, I had, kind of, taken a boat to the mainland. 381 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,440 I'd been at school for my final exam, got on the boat, 382 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:57,520 took off my school uniform, and threw it in the sea. 383 00:22:57,560 --> 00:22:59,880 And I came down to London. 384 00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:01,800 You know, I was kind of living it large, 385 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:03,720 as you do when you're in your 20s. 386 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:07,000 I was a punk. Whatever that means, you know. 387 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:08,760 I had a funny hairstyle. 388 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:12,840 I remember, I went shoplifting, don't quote me on this. 389 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:16,760 I went shoplifting in Woolworths in Brixton in a fur coat, 390 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:19,560 red leather miniskirt, face full of make-up and my... 391 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:22,200 I think it was blonde Mohican at that stage. 392 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:26,400 And it was interesting because, you know, people were a bit like... 393 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:29,040 "Ooh, OK.' (LAUGHS) 394 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:32,640 And I was part of a wee gang, and my gays... 395 00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:35,400 We didn't fit in, but we got through, you know? 396 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:38,520 We lived a life. There's something about being under pressure 397 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:40,080 that brings people together. 398 00:23:40,120 --> 00:23:42,680 And I think because of that, people, you know, 399 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:45,086 um, were able to-to pull together. 400 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:51,880 (TAYCE READING ALOUD) 401 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:59,040 Almost all of the striking miners in South Wales were holding firm, 402 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:01,640 but elsewhere in the country, that wasn't the case. 403 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:08,400 REPORTER: In recent weeks, the tribal beating 404 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:10,960 of police riot shields with truncheons has become 405 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:13,720 a familiar sound on the Yorkshire picket lines. 406 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:17,560 The South Wales miners needed to do everything they could 407 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:19,280 to keep the strike strong. 408 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:22,280 Miners travelled all over the country and joined 409 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:25,080 what were called picket lines, outside working mines. 410 00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:28,840 Sometimes, picket lines could be scary places. 411 00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:32,000 REPORTER: The miners were attempting to block the access road 412 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:34,240 to the pit, and they succeeded. 413 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:36,560 (MINERS CHANTING INDISTINCTLY) 414 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,080 SIAN: Picketing, at that time, was very much seen 415 00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:40,720 as what the men did. 416 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:43,560 The stories were horrendous. 417 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:46,000 Can't believe that we were being treated like that 418 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:49,080 by the police, and the viciousness of the police. 419 00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:51,680 DAVID: If you were just a few people, 420 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:55,640 and they were outnumbering you, they were quite calm about it. 421 00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:58,640 But then when a mob, as they put it, 422 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:02,440 would turn up, their attitude would change. 423 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:04,960 It was dog eat dog then, wasn't it? 424 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:07,360 (INDISTINCT CHANTING) 425 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:11,840 I had grown up in a trade union family, you know. 426 00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:14,040 We knew what a picket line meant. 427 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:16,400 That was sacrosanct. It was there. 428 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:19,280 It was there for a purpose, and that everybody had to recognise 429 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:23,600 that picket line, and stand firmly behind it. 430 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:26,720 MAN: They're determined to break this strike, by any means 431 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:28,600 that they can, but... that they can use. 432 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:31,000 All you've got to do is look around you and just have a look at 433 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:33,440 all the police here, and half of these are soldiers anyway. 434 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:35,080 They are just determined to break us, 435 00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:36,560 but no way are they going to though. 436 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:38,760 You know, they... they're trying to starve us out, 437 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,400 but we've counteracted that with our women support groups, 438 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:43,080 and the women have been great to us. 439 00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:47,880 The quickest way for an individual to feel they have to go 440 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:51,880 back to work is that they can't put food on the table for themselves, 441 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:53,880 but more importantly, for their children. 442 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:55,520 (COINS RATTLING) 443 00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:01,520 We couldn't raise enough money in our communities 444 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:05,920 to buy enough food for the families that were out on strike. 445 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:10,760 Many people in London, at that time, couldn't have gone to a tube station 446 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:14,880 without seeing miners with buckets asking for support of people 447 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:16,960 in London, and that was very important. 448 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:21,320 We developed a plan where we would twin 449 00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:23,080 with an organisation 450 00:26:23,120 --> 00:26:26,200 that wanted to lend their support for the strike. 451 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:31,880 The miners throughout Britain were desperate for money. 452 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:34,640 London, the capital, was a honeypot. 453 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:40,040 Oh yeah, right. The full total then is ยฃ345.85. 454 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:45,280 After weeks of collecting, the gays and lesbians were raking it in. 455 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:49,720 ยฃ95 outside The Bell, ยฃ300 outside the gay bookshop. 456 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:53,640 Before they knew it, they had a pot of 500 quid. 457 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:55,600 A lot of money back then. 458 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:57,960 But they had no idea what to do with it. 459 00:26:58,000 --> 00:26:59,720 Who would they actually send it to? 460 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:01,800 Any other suggestions? 461 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:05,240 So, one member of the group had the idea of sending it to miners 462 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:08,400 in South Wales. He came from that area. 463 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:12,840 You couldn't think of a more remote and isolated mining community 464 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:14,680 than one that we chose. 465 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:18,880 Around there, nearly every miner was on strike. 466 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:21,720 So, we knew that they were desperately in need of... 467 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:23,800 of funds to keep going. 468 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:27,640 And I wrote a letter to say, you know, "Hello, we're, er, 469 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:30,360 a group called Lesbians & Gays Support the Miners.' 470 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:35,400 I remember vividly posting that letter and thinking, 471 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:38,880 "God, I'd love to be a fly on" 472 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:55,160 CHRISTINE: We basically had a meeting every Sunday evening. 473 00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:57,640 We're all in the hall, sitting around the table. 474 00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:00,080 The tables would be laid out for a meeting. 475 00:28:02,360 --> 00:28:05,840 Dai Donovan got up and he said, "Oh, we've got 476 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:07,720 a new support group from London.' 477 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:11,920 And he said, "The group is Lesbians & Gays Support the Miners.' 478 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:16,000 Deathly silence. 479 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:19,000 I looked up... 480 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:22,120 Lesbians and gays? 481 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:26,240 Jaw dropped and then... (LAUGHS) 482 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:31,400 Dai got a bit, um, defensive, you know. 483 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:33,840 And he said, "Hang about now. These-These boys have been 484 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:36,040 rattling buckets and done this, that and the other.' 485 00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:40,960 I think people's attitude to gay people in Wales, right, was, 486 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:45,040 it was... it was never really spoken about, you know? 487 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:49,760 I have no doubt whatsoever that there was homophobia in the valley. 488 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:52,720 Bound to be. 489 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:57,560 Well, poofs, weren't they? Poofters and uphill gardeners. 490 00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:00,680 Arse bandits and then, you know... 491 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:03,240 INTERVIEWER: Would you have used those words, do you think? 492 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:05,360 Yes. (CROSS TALK) 493 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:09,400 Yes, I would have, more than likely. Yeah. 494 00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:11,840 It's to fit in, isn't it? Yeah. 495 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:17,760 MIKE: I got a reply within a week. 496 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:20,760 They were sending somebody to meet us. 497 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:22,760 Er, that we didn't expect. 498 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:31,400 DAI: I do remember coming out of Paddington Station. 499 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:34,040 There's a ramp that comes up out of the station 500 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:36,000 and I remember walking up there. 501 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:38,880 You had to turn right, and on the opposite side of the road, 502 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:41,800 there was a Wimpy Bar, and we'd arranged to meet there. 503 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:46,240 I am not sure what they felt about meeting 504 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:48,480 a so-called miner for the first time. 505 00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:59,920 We expected some discomfort on both sides. 506 00:29:59,960 --> 00:30:02,400 And there wasn't any. 507 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:06,040 He seemed completely unfazed about our sexuality. 508 00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:09,720 At a very young age, I joined the Air Force, 509 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:11,920 and I was stationed overseas. 510 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,400 And there was outrage one day, because a young lad... 511 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:20,000 ,,had been, uh, found out to be a homosexual. 512 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:23,600 At that time, and until very recently in the military, 513 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:26,920 if you were gay, you know, it was a court martial offence. 514 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:32,080 And I remember listening then to the talk amongst all my mates, 515 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:35,720 then, isn't it? How, well, how awful this was. 516 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:40,920 Not his treatment, but that he was a blooming gay bloke, you know? 517 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:44,440 Maybe that's why I wasn't ideally suited in the Air Force. 518 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:47,800 I didn't subscribe to the view that his sexuality should be 519 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:50,760 something that would threaten us as individuals. 520 00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:57,440 Then we arranged for him to come to The Bell, later that evening, 521 00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:00,360 to collect the money from us formally. 522 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:04,680 It was quite brave, a group of 200 LGBT people. 523 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:07,240 He'd never been in a situation like that before, 524 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:10,080 and there he is on stage, facing them. 525 00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:11,720 DAI: 526 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:39,200 (APPLAUSE) 527 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:45,640 He got lots of applause and cheers, and we were beside ourselves. 528 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:52,160 We never expected this positivity and-and this warmth. 529 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:56,120 For the first time, the miners were finding out what it was like 530 00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:58,000 when the state comes for you. 531 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:02,280 These people had been living with this. 532 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:07,600 They took that opportunity to help us at that time, 533 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:10,640 despite everything they had been attacked by, 534 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:12,800 despite everything they were living through. 535 00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:15,160 They were wearing the t-shirt. 536 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:17,240 And yet, do you know what they did? 537 00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:19,760 They said, "These people need our help.' 538 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:27,600 Few weeks later, Dai stood up and said that they'd like 539 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:30,000 to come down and meet us. 540 00:32:30,040 --> 00:32:34,160 One minute, you're talking about the food parcels for the next week, 541 00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:37,440 and then Dai says, "There's a bunch of gay people 542 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:39,440 want to come down and stay with us.' 543 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:44,160 Somebody said, "Will this mean, that we will have to watch men, 544 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:46,080 dancing with each other?' 545 00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:49,000 A member in the support group got up and said, "Hey, hold on 546 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:51,440 a minute now, boys, what the hell's going on here?' 547 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:55,400 I made it quite clear where our loyalties should lay and that 548 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:58,600 we should be supporting people that were prepared to support us. 549 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:01,400 We did have reservations before they came down. 550 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:06,200 Um, to be quite honest with you, we flipped a coin to see whether 551 00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:09,520 we would have lesbians or gays. You know, it sounds an awful thing 552 00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:11,480 to say, but we didn't know what to expect. 553 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:15,280 I just went home and said, "Stuart, you know that gay lot 554 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:17,080 that's been supporting us?' "Yes.' 555 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:19,240 "Well, they're coming down to visit us,' and I said, 556 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:21,720 "We'll put some people up.' I didn't ask him, 557 00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:24,920 "Do you think... Do you mind?' whatever, I just told him. 558 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:45,880 I remember one of my neighbours complaining 559 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:49,720 that she might get AIDS from using the telephone box. 560 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:51,800 You know, they were very ignorant. 561 00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:55,280 The only thing they knew about gay people and the only thing 562 00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:58,680 they knew about AIDS, as we called it then, was what they were 563 00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:00,960 reading in the tabloid press. 564 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:06,160 JOHNATHAN: This notion that somehow you are dirty, you are diseased, 565 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:11,080 eventually that kind of does get to you and it makes me cross. 566 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:15,719 I was diagnosed in October 1982. 567 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:21,000 It was an incredibly lonely, isolating time. 568 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:26,000 One felt like a modern-day leper, you know? 569 00:34:27,199 --> 00:34:31,840 I think one hoped to be accepted. 570 00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:37,080 But maybe this has been some huge mistake and that, actually, 571 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:42,480 people are not going to want us, not going to accept us. 572 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:54,639 NICOLA: I didn't go down to Wales during the strike. 573 00:34:54,679 --> 00:34:58,760 I really had had, um, very bad experiences 574 00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:01,280 of rejection from my family. 575 00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:05,240 My mum had said to me she wasn't sure she wanted to be 576 00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:07,080 my mother anymore. 577 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:11,840 Um, my father said that nobody in the wider family should know 578 00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:13,520 and it should be kept a secret. 579 00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:17,800 It was my normal to feel like I was a monster. 580 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:19,800 I revolted people. 581 00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:23,320 Shame eats the soul... 582 00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:27,000 ..and I wish actually that I just said, 583 00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:30,480 "I'll tell you what. I'm going to go and live my own life. 584 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:34,160 Give us a ring if you change your mind. But I'm off.' 585 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:38,240 I wish I had done that. 586 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:42,120 It's sad, isn't it? It's a common thing. It happens all the time. 587 00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:45,760 Like, you know, I even have friends, literally their parents don't 588 00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:49,240 speak to them. Their parents kicked them out and they from, like, 589 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:51,080 a young age, from, like, 13/14. 590 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:55,800 So, why would, like, her parents just kick her out? 591 00:35:55,840 --> 00:36:01,040 Um, well, that's the craziest thing, like, what I've seen today. 592 00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:04,840 I think that's very sad, because no mother, no father should 593 00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:07,880 disown their child because they are different. 594 00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:11,920 And they should follow their own path because 595 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:14,920 it's their job to take care of them. 596 00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:18,440 It's not their job to tell them what's right and what's not right. 597 00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:20,081 Yes. 598 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:29,560 MIKE: Sure the miners had never done anything for us. 599 00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:34,120 And we ourselves were aware that we might get rejected. 600 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:36,760 We... You know, we weren't naive. 601 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:42,760 Where I grew up, it was classic northern, 602 00:36:42,800 --> 00:36:45,040 industrial, working class. 603 00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:50,400 Although I am proud of that kind of working-class heritage 604 00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:55,600 and the values that I was taught, er, the bit that I'm not proud of 605 00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:57,800 is the widespread homophobia. 606 00:36:58,720 --> 00:37:01,880 Because I came from that kind of background, I mean, there was 607 00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:05,800 a coal mine in the town I grew up in when I was a young lad, 608 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:07,880 when I was in my late teens I'd go 609 00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:10,200 to working men's clubs with my family. 610 00:37:10,240 --> 00:37:13,040 So, I knew what to expect that weekend. 611 00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:15,880 We were going to the Miners' Welfare Hall, which is essentially 612 00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:17,040 a working men's club. 613 00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:19,080 What was utterly new... 614 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:24,360 ..is it would be the first time I'd walk into one of those places 615 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:27,160 proudly out as a gay man. 616 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:29,480 That was a new experience for me. 617 00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:37,440 We were preparing to walk into the lion's mouth. 618 00:37:37,480 --> 00:37:39,600 # DOLLY PARTON: Islands in the Stream # 619 00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:47,680 When we walked into the Miners' Welfare Hall, the place was packed. 620 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:56,080 27 of us, young, charity shop chic... 621 00:37:56,920 --> 00:37:59,040 ..we walk in single file. 622 00:38:01,440 --> 00:38:03,760 Suddenly, this was where... 623 00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:05,720 "What the fuck are we doing here? 624 00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:07,840 This is just crazy.' 625 00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:10,600 That's pretty terrifying. 626 00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:15,680 There was absolute silence. 627 00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:20,120 "What the fuck?' 628 00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:23,520 And then, somebody started clapping. 629 00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:28,960 And suddenly the whole room just erupted in applause, 630 00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:31,720 and you thought, "It's alright, we're home.' 631 00:38:32,600 --> 00:38:35,560 And we're looking round at each other, going, 632 00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:38,240 "God, fuck. What's this? 633 00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:42,000 My God, didn't expect this.' 634 00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:43,480 It's just overwhelming really. 635 00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:47,400 # Are you ready for the time of your life? 636 00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:49,920 # Time to stand up and fight 637 00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:52,800 # It's alright, it's alright... 638 00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:57,640 And the hair was standing up on my body, 639 00:38:57,680 --> 00:38:59,840 and you couldn't stop us after that. 640 00:38:59,880 --> 00:39:03,840 We were just like, "Yeah.' (LAUGHS) "Fantastic.' 641 00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:06,920 # Every woman, every man 642 00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:10,520 # Join the caravan of love 643 00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:13,040 # Stand up, stand up 644 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:14,440 # Stand up 645 00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:17,320 # Everybody take a stand 646 00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:20,680 # Join the caravan of love 647 00:39:20,720 --> 00:39:23,160 # Stand up, stand up 648 00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:24,800 # Stand up... 649 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:29,120 We'd all fled to London because of the widespread homophobia 650 00:39:29,160 --> 00:39:31,560 that there was in our communities, and we didn't expect 651 00:39:31,600 --> 00:39:33,920 a Welsh mining community to be any different. 652 00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:39,280 All I wanted was to be accepted. That's all we ever wanted. 653 00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:44,160 In those few seconds in a miners' hall in Wales, 654 00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:47,280 I was just given that absolute acceptance. 655 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:49,880 # Are you ready? Don't worry 656 00:39:49,920 --> 00:39:52,440 # You better get ready # Don't worry 657 00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:56,320 # You better get ready for the caravan 658 00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:59,640 # Ah... 659 00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:03,320 # Ah... # 660 00:40:03,360 --> 00:40:08,000 The few steps from that door to here, my life changed. 661 00:40:08,040 --> 00:40:09,640 # NEW ORDER: Blue Monday # 662 00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:15,000 You know, the local kids, they're cheeky. 663 00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:18,200 One of them went and said, "Are you a poof, mister?' 664 00:40:18,240 --> 00:40:20,920 And I, sort of, said, "Yes, I'm a poof, and all your visitors 665 00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:22,120 this weekend are poofs too.' 666 00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:24,080 And he, kind of, laughed, he said, "Oh!' 667 00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:27,080 When I had that sort of honesty, it made me, sort of, think, 668 00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:28,560 "This is gonna go alright.' 669 00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:31,480 Well, I think we were more curious. 670 00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:33,320 Do they have two heads? 671 00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:35,800 Have they got green noses? You know, I mean... 672 00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:38,480 It's Saturday night, you know, let's have a party, 673 00:40:38,520 --> 00:40:40,680 let's have a drink, and just relax and have fun. 674 00:40:40,720 --> 00:40:45,040 You were having conversations with people that you would never 675 00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:47,120 have had with people in your own community. 676 00:40:47,160 --> 00:40:49,280 "What's poppers then?' "Oh.' 677 00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:51,600 "What's a cock ring?' "Oh!' 678 00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:53,800 "You ought to try that.' "Ooh!' 679 00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:57,520 I got in conversation with a miner at the bar, and he went, 680 00:40:57,560 --> 00:40:59,440 "Have you got anywhere to stay?' "Yes, I have.' 681 00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:02,200 He said, "Oh, that's a shame, you could've come and stayed with me.' 682 00:41:02,240 --> 00:41:05,160 I must admit, my little heart went ooh, ooh. (LAUGHS) 683 00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:09,960 One of the boys said, "We're vegetarians.' 684 00:41:10,720 --> 00:41:11,800 "Oh.' 685 00:41:11,840 --> 00:41:14,080 I could feed gay people, but I didn't know what 686 00:41:14,120 --> 00:41:15,800 to do with vegetarians. (LAUGHS) 687 00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:21,240 Egg and chips, egg, beans and chips, egg and beans, beans and chips. 688 00:41:22,080 --> 00:41:24,240 Combinations thereof. 689 00:41:24,280 --> 00:41:27,440 I was too busy trying to pick up a miner to be... 690 00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:29,080 (LAUGHS) I joke. 691 00:41:30,240 --> 00:41:32,680 MARTIN: They were nice people, like. DAVID: Yeah. 692 00:41:32,720 --> 00:41:35,040 Breath of fresh air in the strike, wasn't they? 693 00:41:35,080 --> 00:41:36,560 Yeah, they were, yeah. 694 00:41:36,600 --> 00:41:38,080 Yeah, genuine people. 695 00:41:39,720 --> 00:41:43,200 When the lesbians and gays came down, my brain was just 696 00:41:43,240 --> 00:41:47,880 absolutely whirring. I had no idea what was gonna come. 697 00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:52,360 I actually had no idea what that impact would be, yeah. 698 00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:54,000 I get emotional. 699 00:41:56,320 --> 00:42:01,600 I'd just turned 16, I was a bit of an outcast, to be fair. 700 00:42:01,640 --> 00:42:05,480 I didn't like living in the village, I had some girls 701 00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:07,560 who used to pick on me. 702 00:42:07,600 --> 00:42:10,320 They called me Patch, cos I had.... like, I've got the birthmark 703 00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:13,840 here on my face. "Patch, you're a lesbian.' 704 00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:20,920 There were this group of young people, they were very 705 00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:25,600 tactile and huggy, so that wasn't something that we were used to. 706 00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:29,480 Nobody hugged you, nobody had that, you know, that... They... 707 00:42:29,520 --> 00:42:31,520 nobody showed that outward affection. 708 00:42:31,560 --> 00:42:34,400 "I'll let you do that, because I feel safe enough for you to 709 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:35,640 do that with me.' 710 00:42:35,680 --> 00:42:37,880 So, I felt embraced by them. 711 00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:39,720 I felt safe with them. 712 00:42:41,720 --> 00:42:46,040 JOHNATHAN: That photograph of me clapping my hands with joy, 713 00:42:46,080 --> 00:42:47,760 I mean, it's lovely. 714 00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:49,760 Just so full of life. 715 00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:54,640 And if you notice, Cliff, he's the only other man 716 00:42:54,680 --> 00:42:57,960 that's dancing, apart from all we gay men. 717 00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:01,680 You know, he's up there having a ball. 718 00:43:01,720 --> 00:43:04,240 Cliff was just a darling. 719 00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:08,280 He was really, sort of, gentle, very naughty... 720 00:43:09,160 --> 00:43:14,240 ..and so happy to, kind of, sort of, to have us boys there. 721 00:43:16,400 --> 00:43:20,520 The lesbian and gays has been super-duper. 722 00:43:21,280 --> 00:43:23,640 And I mean that sincerely. 723 00:43:25,720 --> 00:43:27,600 There's no other words that can explain it. 724 00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:31,000 Jonathan said, "We've found the gay one.' 725 00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:32,600 (LAUGHS) 726 00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:34,960 And we all went, "No!' 727 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:38,360 He came out to us, and he didn't hold back. 728 00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:39,760 He told us everything. 729 00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:42,520 He told about... told us about the sex he had in the pits. 730 00:43:42,560 --> 00:43:46,720 And Cliff had many an enjoyable time 731 00:43:46,760 --> 00:43:49,280 down these pits with these men. 732 00:43:50,320 --> 00:43:54,160 # If I 733 00:43:54,200 --> 00:43:56,560 # Should stay 734 00:43:57,600 --> 00:44:00,200 # I would only be... # 735 00:44:00,240 --> 00:44:02,360 At the end of the night, you have slow dances, right, 736 00:44:02,400 --> 00:44:04,680 and people get... You know, it's like slushy dance, 737 00:44:04,720 --> 00:44:06,960 and two of the men, two of the gay men, got together 738 00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:08,560 and did a slow dance together. 739 00:44:08,600 --> 00:44:10,840 And I just... it just made me think, "Oh god, they feel 740 00:44:10,880 --> 00:44:13,960 comfortable enough, not just to be, 'Hello, I'm a gay, political gay,' 741 00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:16,280 it's like, you,' and they just had that moment, 742 00:44:16,320 --> 00:44:19,320 that private moment, where they just wanted to be smoochy, you know? 743 00:44:26,640 --> 00:44:29,360 For a lot of the gay men, I got the sense that, that was really 744 00:44:29,400 --> 00:44:34,520 the first time they had been out and proud in a community similar 745 00:44:34,560 --> 00:44:38,360 to the ones they'd grown up in, where that didn't feel possible. 746 00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:45,400 INTERVIEWER: Did you manage to pull a miner that night? 747 00:44:45,440 --> 00:44:47,920 What a thing to be asking somebody! (LAUGHS) 748 00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:51,560 Yeah. 749 00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:57,000 I don't wanna come across as cheap, but we shared a bed, 750 00:44:57,040 --> 00:45:00,600 and we shared more than that, we shared sexual intimacy. 751 00:45:00,640 --> 00:45:03,160 You know, we did, that night. 752 00:45:04,760 --> 00:45:07,400 And can I just sort of say, it wasn't about pulling a miner, 753 00:45:07,440 --> 00:45:09,640 let's be really clear about that, yeah? 754 00:45:15,080 --> 00:45:18,720 If Lesbian & Gays Support the Miners was important 755 00:45:18,760 --> 00:45:23,640 in our community, particularly for working-class people, 756 00:45:23,680 --> 00:45:27,760 Lesbian & Gays Support the Miners in a working class community, 757 00:45:27,800 --> 00:45:31,680 was hugely important for queer people, like Cliff. 758 00:45:31,720 --> 00:45:35,920 I moved 500 miles to express my sexuality, you know, 759 00:45:35,960 --> 00:45:38,160 and that meant giving up an awful lot. 760 00:45:38,200 --> 00:45:39,840 Um, he hadn't done that. 761 00:45:39,880 --> 00:45:42,840 He was trying to live that life there and that was to be admired, 762 00:45:42,880 --> 00:45:44,440 as far as I was concerned. 763 00:45:45,440 --> 00:45:47,680 DAVID: You never realised, did you? 764 00:45:47,720 --> 00:45:49,400 Miners could have been gay. 765 00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:51,400 You could be working with a bloke. 766 00:45:51,440 --> 00:45:53,480 He wasn't going to tell you though, was he? 767 00:45:53,520 --> 00:45:55,840 He'd be too frightened wouldn't he? 'By the way, I'm gay.' 768 00:45:55,880 --> 00:45:57,560 You know, not going to tell you that, is he? 769 00:45:57,600 --> 00:46:02,920 He was opening himself up for a real ribbing, ribbing. 770 00:46:02,960 --> 00:46:04,560 So, no. 771 00:46:05,240 --> 00:46:10,120 JAYNE: I don't know if I knew if Cliff was gay. 772 00:46:10,160 --> 00:46:12,600 I don't think I remember if I knew that. 773 00:46:12,640 --> 00:46:15,200 I just knew that there was a difference in him, 774 00:46:15,240 --> 00:46:16,600 after they'd been. 775 00:46:16,640 --> 00:46:19,840 It sounds like the visit from the lesbians and gays 776 00:46:19,880 --> 00:46:21,760 was pretty important to Cliff. 777 00:46:21,800 --> 00:46:24,640 Isn't it nice he was finally able to be himself? 778 00:46:24,680 --> 00:46:29,000 Like basically, he probably felt desolate and like, he, like, 779 00:46:29,040 --> 00:46:31,520 really isolated that he couldn't tell anyone. 780 00:46:31,560 --> 00:46:35,360 But once he told... Once he probably told people, he probably felt free. 781 00:46:35,400 --> 00:46:37,240 Like, he escaped from... And the relief. 782 00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:41,920 You know that deep down inside, you need to let it go at some point. 783 00:46:41,960 --> 00:46:45,760 Otherwise, you will explode and like, you just want to let 784 00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:50,280 your emotions out and do what you want to do. Yes. 785 00:46:50,320 --> 00:46:53,960 It was a life changing trip for the gays and lesbians. 786 00:46:54,000 --> 00:46:57,760 They'd made incredible friendships and now, they really understood 787 00:46:57,800 --> 00:47:00,480 what mining meant to these communities. 788 00:47:01,880 --> 00:47:04,280 But for Nicola, it was bitter sweet. 789 00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:08,880 I used to feel ashamed that I hadn't gone and everybody would say, 790 00:47:08,920 --> 00:47:12,000 'What was it like going to the miners' welfare and you were 791 00:47:12,040 --> 00:47:15,040 all dancing together?' and I didn't go. 792 00:47:15,080 --> 00:47:16,880 Wasn't all wonderful. 793 00:47:16,920 --> 00:47:21,760 (LAUGHS) I mean I think it was very difficult for women who came along, 794 00:47:21,800 --> 00:47:24,120 you know, Lesbian & Gays Support the Miners. 795 00:47:24,160 --> 00:47:25,600 Well, where are the lesbians? 796 00:47:25,640 --> 00:47:31,360 I bet I wasn't the only one who, sort of, was part of it 797 00:47:31,400 --> 00:47:33,240 but kind of... 798 00:47:33,280 --> 00:47:35,080 not quite in the centre of it. 799 00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:41,800 Some of the women felt that the men were sexist. 800 00:47:41,840 --> 00:47:47,040 Women, lesbians, um, didn't get much of a look-in. 801 00:47:47,080 --> 00:47:49,840 Well, I mean within the group itself it's been really shit because 802 00:47:49,880 --> 00:47:54,600 like we have... and when I say 'we', I mean the men, right, 803 00:47:54,640 --> 00:47:57,720 get that really guilty look on their face, have totally monopolised 804 00:47:57,760 --> 00:48:00,400 this group and women have been excluded, and it's a fact. 805 00:48:00,440 --> 00:48:03,840 (WOMEN SINGING ON LESBIANS AGAINST PIT CLOSURES MARCH) 806 00:48:07,200 --> 00:48:10,880 So what some of the women in the group and I did was formed 807 00:48:10,920 --> 00:48:13,480 a lesbian group called Lesbians Against Pit Closures. 808 00:48:13,520 --> 00:48:17,560 You know, I was led by the heart, I suppose. 809 00:48:17,600 --> 00:48:20,720 I kind of felt more comfortable in the women-only group. 810 00:48:22,480 --> 00:48:28,040 That young person was a very, very lonely and frightened young person 811 00:48:28,080 --> 00:48:32,640 who was desperately looking for community and belonging. 812 00:48:32,680 --> 00:48:36,520 The good thing about Lesbians Against Pit Closures and they... 813 00:48:36,560 --> 00:48:38,440 they raised money as well. 814 00:48:39,480 --> 00:48:42,760 Isn't it great that Nicola finally found her voice, and a group 815 00:48:42,800 --> 00:48:44,440 she could raise money with? 816 00:48:44,480 --> 00:48:46,080 It was needed more than ever. 817 00:48:47,160 --> 00:48:49,600 For the South Wales miners and the gays in London, 818 00:48:49,640 --> 00:48:52,000 it really felt like everyone was against them. 819 00:48:52,040 --> 00:48:53,920 There were some rough times ahead. 820 00:48:57,200 --> 00:48:59,840 REPORTER: Dawn at the Point of Ayr Colliery in North Wales, 821 00:48:59,880 --> 00:49:02,720 the start of another week in the miners' dispute, 822 00:49:02,760 --> 00:49:05,120 and for the first time in the union's history, 823 00:49:05,160 --> 00:49:09,840 miners decided to cross picket lines manned by fellow miners. 824 00:49:09,880 --> 00:49:12,200 What about the NUM men who are going into work? 825 00:49:12,240 --> 00:49:15,960 What's your view there? My view? I think they're scabs. 826 00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:20,400 You know, they're... (CROSSTALK) 827 00:49:20,440 --> 00:49:24,040 A trickle of people start to return to work. 828 00:49:24,080 --> 00:49:25,720 INTERVIEWER: In South Wales? Yeah. 829 00:49:25,760 --> 00:49:28,200 So we'd had to picket locally. 830 00:49:28,240 --> 00:49:32,160 # Oh, I'd rather be a picket than a scab 831 00:49:32,200 --> 00:49:34,480 # Oh, I'd rather be a picket 832 00:49:34,520 --> 00:49:36,080 # Rather be a picket 833 00:49:36,120 --> 00:49:39,160 # Rather be a picket than a scab. # 834 00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:45,200 At different points in the strike, women started to become more 835 00:49:45,240 --> 00:49:49,880 confident about what they could do and what they wanted to do, 836 00:49:49,920 --> 00:49:52,920 and that led to the women deciding that they were gonna 837 00:49:52,960 --> 00:49:54,520 take part in the picket lines. 838 00:49:54,560 --> 00:49:58,120 It's made a lot of women aware that they're capable of doing things 839 00:49:58,160 --> 00:50:01,360 that they didn't realise they were capable of doing before. 840 00:50:01,400 --> 00:50:04,160 There's a changed sort of attitude in the home, you know, 841 00:50:04,200 --> 00:50:06,400 they've got... they're out at meetings and they're... 842 00:50:06,440 --> 00:50:07,880 and they're out on the picket line. 843 00:50:07,920 --> 00:50:11,360 We were starting to step up to the plate a little bit more. 844 00:50:11,400 --> 00:50:14,400 We were stepping out of our traditional role of 845 00:50:14,440 --> 00:50:16,680 fund raising, nurturing. 846 00:50:16,720 --> 00:50:18,640 There was a growing awareness, 847 00:50:18,680 --> 00:50:22,480 the backbone of the strike were the women. 848 00:50:24,960 --> 00:50:29,480 The first time we had to picket our colliery, Abernant Colliery, 849 00:50:29,520 --> 00:50:32,680 there was one person we would've all put money on him going back in. 850 00:50:32,720 --> 00:50:34,840 (LAUGHS) But... Who was it? 851 00:50:34,880 --> 00:50:37,560 Oh, I'm not gonna name him, because his family are terribly, 852 00:50:37,600 --> 00:50:39,080 terribly ashamed of him. 853 00:50:41,400 --> 00:50:43,920 We were so angry, we went up to picket the colliery, 854 00:50:43,960 --> 00:50:45,560 to try and stop him going in... 855 00:50:49,360 --> 00:50:53,520 ..and then the bus trundles up, and the door opened, 856 00:50:53,560 --> 00:50:56,240 and you could hear the driver saying, 'Right... 857 00:50:57,640 --> 00:50:59,240 ..eff off out.' 858 00:50:59,920 --> 00:51:03,440 'Nah, he's never gonna come out of that bus, the coward. 859 00:51:03,480 --> 00:51:05,440 He's never gonna come out that bus.' 860 00:51:05,480 --> 00:51:08,160 And he got out of the bus. Everybody went nuts. 861 00:51:09,360 --> 00:51:11,560 And that's when all hell broke loose. 862 00:51:11,600 --> 00:51:14,120 And I could hear this shouting, I can hear it now. 863 00:51:14,160 --> 00:51:16,000 'Troi nol' 'Turn back,' 864 00:51:16,040 --> 00:51:18,400 appealing to him as a neighbour. 865 00:51:18,440 --> 00:51:21,360 The police had to snatch him in through the gates 866 00:51:21,400 --> 00:51:25,240 and they started bonking people on heads 867 00:51:25,280 --> 00:51:27,440 and dragging people away. 868 00:51:28,720 --> 00:51:30,200 It was unbelievable. 869 00:51:30,240 --> 00:51:33,120 I suppose it's an emotional thing. 870 00:51:33,160 --> 00:51:34,760 It's anger, I suppose. 871 00:51:35,840 --> 00:51:37,240 What were you angry about? 872 00:51:37,280 --> 00:51:38,880 Being undermined. 873 00:51:39,560 --> 00:51:43,080 Well, they're people that should've been fighting alongside us. 874 00:51:43,120 --> 00:51:47,800 We wanted them to know that we were ostracising them for a reason. 875 00:51:47,840 --> 00:51:52,120 "Despise" is a strong word, but, you know, but we had forsaken them. 876 00:51:52,160 --> 00:51:56,040 They weren't any longer part of our community. 877 00:51:56,080 --> 00:51:57,680 (CROWD SHOUTS) 878 00:52:10,480 --> 00:52:13,520 REPORTER: This afternoon, Joy Watson was driving her husband into work. 879 00:52:13,560 --> 00:52:17,240 The women were waiting. Paint and oil were thrown over the windscreen. 880 00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:20,800 Inside the plant, Paul Watson cleared the windscreen, 881 00:52:20,840 --> 00:52:24,120 before leaving his wife to run the gauntlet again. 882 00:52:24,840 --> 00:52:26,200 All the best, then. Here goes. 883 00:52:26,240 --> 00:52:29,000 This time, the reception was even more violent. 884 00:52:31,320 --> 00:52:35,160 A stone smashed through the window, hitting the driver. 885 00:52:35,200 --> 00:52:37,280 (PROTESTORS CHEER) (ENGINE REVS) 886 00:52:38,880 --> 00:52:43,520 The traffic forced the car to stop. The women took advantage. 887 00:52:47,960 --> 00:52:50,040 Woo! Fuck off! 888 00:52:50,880 --> 00:52:53,280 It's unbelievable, it really is. 889 00:52:54,880 --> 00:52:56,840 I dunno, I just think they want blood. 890 00:52:56,880 --> 00:52:58,920 They want blood before they're finished. 891 00:52:58,960 --> 00:53:03,240 I say to Mrs Watson and any other potential scab 892 00:53:03,280 --> 00:53:07,760 in that community or in any other part of South Wales... 893 00:53:07,800 --> 00:53:09,480 you go back to work. 894 00:53:09,520 --> 00:53:12,880 You break the solidarity in that community and I will tell you 895 00:53:12,920 --> 00:53:15,200 something, and this isn't an idle threat. 896 00:53:15,240 --> 00:53:20,640 There is no place for you in that community now or in the future. 897 00:53:20,680 --> 00:53:24,800 You know, in one respect, violence cannot be condoned. 898 00:53:24,840 --> 00:53:29,160 But you're fighting for your way of life and you're fighting for your 899 00:53:29,200 --> 00:53:35,080 families, and you're fighting to put food on the table for your kids. 900 00:53:35,120 --> 00:53:36,400 'Ah, but you're on strike. 901 00:53:36,440 --> 00:53:39,760 If you went back to work, you'd have had money.' Yeah, but for how long? 902 00:53:43,760 --> 00:53:46,800 This was the sort of tragedy that police, the Coal Board and 903 00:53:46,840 --> 00:53:49,520 miners' leaders had forecast and feared. 904 00:53:49,560 --> 00:53:52,640 Early this morning, 35-year-old David Wilkie was driving to 905 00:53:52,680 --> 00:53:55,520 Merthyr Vale Colliery in the village of Aberfan. 906 00:53:55,560 --> 00:53:58,520 In the cab with him was Dai Williams, one of two working 907 00:53:58,560 --> 00:54:00,120 miners at the pit. 908 00:54:00,160 --> 00:54:03,680 But at this point, a three foot concrete post dropped from 909 00:54:03,720 --> 00:54:05,800 the bridge, smashed through the windscreen of the 910 00:54:06,400 --> 00:54:09,720 Cortina Estate car, killing Mr Wilkie instantly. 911 00:54:09,760 --> 00:54:12,880 No, I'm not gonna talk about that. Didn't happen in our area. 912 00:54:12,920 --> 00:54:17,760 It's dreadful, it should never have happened. No, no, sorry, no. 913 00:54:17,800 --> 00:54:19,800 Nah, we don't know... Nothing to do with us. 914 00:54:19,840 --> 00:54:21,280 Nothing to do with us. 915 00:54:21,320 --> 00:54:23,240 It's a different area. 916 00:54:23,880 --> 00:54:26,160 It's a different area, and it's nothing to do with us. 917 00:54:26,200 --> 00:54:29,520 Mr Wilkie was a volunteer, as are all the city centre cab men 918 00:54:29,560 --> 00:54:32,360 who've driven working miners through picket lines. 919 00:54:32,400 --> 00:54:35,000 Earlier this week, a concrete block was dropped on to the bonnet 920 00:54:35,040 --> 00:54:37,000 of one taxi. 921 00:54:37,040 --> 00:54:39,720 This isn't industrial action, 922 00:54:39,760 --> 00:54:43,280 this isn't picketing. This is murder. 923 00:54:43,320 --> 00:54:48,080 This terrible thing had happened, which was unforgiveable, but 924 00:54:48,120 --> 00:54:49,640 we still had a job to do. 925 00:54:49,680 --> 00:54:51,000 We had to get on. 926 00:54:51,040 --> 00:54:55,560 Passions run high and people do things 927 00:54:55,600 --> 00:54:58,640 and, you know, they do the wrong thing, 928 00:54:58,680 --> 00:55:02,280 and that's what happened in that case of the... 929 00:55:02,320 --> 00:55:04,200 taxi driver. 930 00:55:04,240 --> 00:55:09,440 It was awful, and a few days later there's Lesbians & 931 00:55:09,480 --> 00:55:13,360 Gays Support the Miners in London, collecting for the miners, and 932 00:55:13,400 --> 00:55:16,000 a member of the public just walks past 933 00:55:16,040 --> 00:55:20,160 and shouts, at us, 'Murderers!' 934 00:55:23,240 --> 00:55:26,640 The strike had been dragging on and on and on. 935 00:55:26,680 --> 00:55:30,840 Christmas was looming, winter was closing in, means that 936 00:55:30,880 --> 00:55:33,840 picketing would be cold and difficult. 937 00:55:33,880 --> 00:55:37,000 It's the last thing we needed really, yeah. 938 00:55:37,040 --> 00:55:40,680 Obviously any acts of violence against people, no matter how much 939 00:55:40,720 --> 00:55:43,560 they're in opposition to you, is not acceptable. 940 00:55:43,600 --> 00:55:49,040 But the violence I was witnessing was where police 941 00:55:49,080 --> 00:55:52,960 were cracking skulls, police horses were trampling. 942 00:55:53,000 --> 00:55:54,680 Um... 943 00:55:56,160 --> 00:56:00,240 It was the bloody face of miners that had been... 944 00:56:05,200 --> 00:56:08,040 I find it really triggering to talk about violence. 945 00:56:13,160 --> 00:56:15,520 Because of course it's my life too. 946 00:56:16,600 --> 00:56:19,640 I've been in receipt of violence through my life, and... 947 00:56:23,040 --> 00:56:26,920 I'm aware of its consequence and how much 948 00:56:26,960 --> 00:56:30,560 it's pushed me in different places. 949 00:56:30,600 --> 00:56:33,280 We knew what the state could do. 950 00:56:33,320 --> 00:56:38,880 We were forever being harassed, hassled. It was grim. 951 00:56:38,920 --> 00:56:41,680 It was really, really awful. 952 00:56:50,000 --> 00:56:54,400 # The British police are the best in the world 953 00:56:54,440 --> 00:56:58,360 # I don't believe one of these stories I've heard 954 00:56:58,400 --> 00:57:02,600 # About them raiding our pubs for no reason at all 955 00:57:02,640 --> 00:57:06,960 # Lining the customers up by the wall 956 00:57:07,000 --> 00:57:11,120 # I had a friend who was gentle and short 957 00:57:11,160 --> 00:57:15,000 # He was lonely one evening, he went for a walk 958 00:57:15,040 --> 00:57:19,360 # Queer bashers caught him, kicked in his teeth 959 00:57:19,400 --> 00:57:25,000 # He was only hospitalised for a week 960 00:57:25,040 --> 00:57:27,760 # And he still bears the scars 961 00:57:27,800 --> 00:57:35,960 # Sing if you're glad to be gay, sing if you're happy that way, hey, 962 00:57:36,000 --> 00:57:43,240 # Sing if you're glad to be gay, sing if you're happy that way... 963 00:57:46,760 --> 00:57:52,040 Violence is a mechanism of state control and has been used against 964 00:57:52,080 --> 00:57:56,320 anyone that seemed to be stepping outside of the mainstream position. 965 00:57:56,360 --> 00:58:00,320 Be that through class, be it through sexuality, gender. 966 00:58:00,360 --> 00:58:01,560 Whatever way it is. 967 00:58:01,600 --> 00:58:06,320 Violence, condoned and organised by the state, has always 968 00:58:06,360 --> 00:58:07,840 impacted on gay people. 969 00:58:07,880 --> 00:58:15,560 # Sing if you're glad to be gay, sing if you're happy that way, hey 970 00:58:15,600 --> 00:58:22,760 # Sing if you're glad to be gay 971 00:58:22,800 --> 00:58:29,480 # Sing if you're happy this way. # 972 00:58:39,280 --> 00:58:43,760 As Christmas was approaching, the strike was entering a new phase. 973 00:58:43,800 --> 00:58:47,280 Miners were being offered a lot of money to come back to work 974 00:58:47,320 --> 00:58:48,800 before Christmas. 975 00:58:48,840 --> 00:58:53,480 After months of living without pay, for some, it was just all too much. 976 00:58:57,720 --> 00:59:01,040 Eight heavily protected buses, each carrying 40 or so working 977 00:59:01,080 --> 00:59:04,680 miners, rumbled past the pickets at Shirebrook. 978 00:59:04,720 --> 00:59:08,280 74 men abandoned the strike and came to work here for the first 979 00:59:08,320 --> 00:59:10,720 time today. 980 00:59:10,760 --> 00:59:14,160 In debt. Mortgage was running up. 981 00:59:14,200 --> 00:59:16,040 Had to come back to work. 982 00:59:16,080 --> 00:59:20,160 Do you think that you at this pit now are showing the way back? 983 00:59:20,200 --> 00:59:23,000 Yes, definite. 984 00:59:23,040 --> 00:59:26,640 It's to be hoped so. The men suffered enough. 985 00:59:26,680 --> 00:59:29,240 How much more can they suffer? How much more can they suffer? 986 00:59:29,280 --> 00:59:31,640 How much more can their families take? 987 00:59:31,680 --> 00:59:35,200 We were in there for the duration and, you know, when that 988 00:59:35,240 --> 00:59:39,240 change came, that hardening in the attitude of the government, 989 00:59:39,280 --> 00:59:43,120 the police, people were tired of the story, you know, on their 990 00:59:43,160 --> 00:59:47,600 TV's all the time, er, you had to step up and do more. 991 00:59:49,920 --> 00:59:54,680 When it was December and Christmas was looming, so I was looking 992 00:59:54,720 --> 00:59:58,760 at, 'What are we now gonna do to be able to put food on the table 993 00:59:58,800 --> 01:00:01,640 on Christmas Day for every single mining family? 994 01:00:01,680 --> 01:00:05,840 Put a present in a stocking for every single miner's child'. 995 01:00:05,880 --> 01:00:08,080 The lesbians and gays were determined not to let their 996 01:00:08,120 --> 01:00:11,000 friends down when they needed help the most. 997 01:00:11,040 --> 01:00:14,560 But collecting money on the street wasn't going to be enough. 998 01:00:14,600 --> 01:00:17,920 They had to come up with something massive. 999 01:00:17,960 --> 01:00:22,000 Mark Ashton was a personal friend of Jimmy Somerville who is the 1000 01:00:22,040 --> 01:00:26,600 singer with Bronski Beat, someone had an idea, we were good at 1001 01:00:26,640 --> 01:00:30,080 partying, why not just have a massive party and sell 1002 01:00:30,120 --> 01:00:34,280 tickets and raise money that way, and that was it. 1003 01:00:34,320 --> 01:00:36,800 The Pits and Perverts Ball. 1004 01:00:42,720 --> 01:00:47,520 It was an invitation to attend the event if you wanted to. 1005 01:00:47,560 --> 01:00:51,880 It was a-a great group of people who travelled in hope. 1006 01:00:51,920 --> 01:00:56,320 (WOMEN ON BUS SINGING) 1007 01:01:08,680 --> 01:01:11,720 We took them to the Tower of London. 1008 01:01:11,760 --> 01:01:16,440 Dai Donovan's son, Owain, was with us. 1009 01:01:16,480 --> 01:01:21,440 He put his hands on his hips, as a four-year-old, and walked up 1010 01:01:21,480 --> 01:01:27,080 to this beefeater, and just said, 'You're a scabby piggy, you are. 1011 01:01:27,120 --> 01:01:29,840 You're a scabby piggy, you wanna lock my daddy up. 1012 01:01:29,880 --> 01:01:32,920 Scabby piggy, scabby piggy.' (LAUGHS) 1013 01:01:36,200 --> 01:01:40,280 I do not believe that it was restricted to gay people. 1014 01:01:40,320 --> 01:01:42,480 But there were an awful lot of gay people there. 1015 01:01:42,520 --> 01:01:45,000 Very avant-garde in the way they dressed. 1016 01:01:45,040 --> 01:01:48,560 It wasn't like a local club in South Wales, you know. 1017 01:01:48,600 --> 01:01:52,200 I think Jimmy Somerville bought me a pint. I remember that. 1018 01:01:52,240 --> 01:01:55,360 Fantastic night. Really good night. 1019 01:01:55,400 --> 01:01:59,400 It was a joyful moment, and we raised lots of money, and 1020 01:01:59,440 --> 01:02:02,320 that was great, and that was the purpose. 1021 01:02:02,360 --> 01:02:06,720 All I'd like to say in conclusion is victory to the miners, 1022 01:02:06,760 --> 01:02:11,160 victory to the lesbians and gays, victory to the old, victory 1023 01:02:11,200 --> 01:02:15,880 to the young, victory to the sick, and victory to the working class. 1024 01:02:15,920 --> 01:02:20,000 Thank you.I gave a speech at Pits and Perverts, for that exciting 1025 01:02:20,040 --> 01:02:25,800 night where I said, 'You have worn our badge, now we will wear yours'. 1026 01:02:25,840 --> 01:02:29,160 First event that I'd ever been to, first night club, first 1027 01:02:29,200 --> 01:02:31,800 concert like that that I'd ever been to. 1028 01:02:31,840 --> 01:02:37,000 A lot of firsts happened in '84/'85 for me, absolutely, yeah. 1029 01:02:37,040 --> 01:02:38,760 I'd known Mark from day one. 1030 01:02:38,800 --> 01:02:40,160 He kind of took me under his wing. 1031 01:02:40,200 --> 01:02:43,520 So, you know, that's why he said, 'Come on, come on up, stay with us. 1032 01:02:43,560 --> 01:02:45,040 And they took me to Heaven. 1033 01:02:47,840 --> 01:02:53,360 So here I am, 17 years old now, walking into a gay nightclub 1034 01:02:53,400 --> 01:02:56,200 that I'd never, ever been to in London. 1035 01:02:56,240 --> 01:03:00,840 Didn't expect what I saw. Er, absolutely blew my head off. 1036 01:03:00,880 --> 01:03:03,240 Sex everywhere. Just openly. 1037 01:03:03,280 --> 01:03:08,520 It was just, yeah, I kind of had my eyes opened to all sorts of things. 1038 01:03:08,560 --> 01:03:10,960 I wanted to be part of it but I didn't know how. 1039 01:03:11,000 --> 01:03:14,520 "This is a different life completely.' 1040 01:03:19,360 --> 01:03:23,120 The Pits and Perverts Ball raised 5,500 1041 01:03:23,160 --> 01:03:26,240 that night, which was a quarter of what we'd raised the entire 1042 01:03:26,280 --> 01:03:32,240 year elsewhere on street corners so it was a-a very successful event. 1043 01:03:32,280 --> 01:03:34,760 We were determined every family would have a turkey and every 1044 01:03:34,800 --> 01:03:37,640 kid would have a Christmas present and we did it. 1045 01:03:37,680 --> 01:03:39,480 It's quite simple really. 1046 01:03:39,520 --> 01:03:44,600 If we hadn't had support over that period of time, we wouldn't 1047 01:03:44,640 --> 01:03:48,000 have been able to sustain the strike. 1048 01:03:48,040 --> 01:03:51,600 In total, I would say, that LGSM 1049 01:03:51,640 --> 01:03:54,640 raised in excess of ยฃ20,000. 1050 01:03:54,680 --> 01:03:58,640 They came in and supported us, when we were starting to run out 1051 01:03:58,680 --> 01:04:00,320 of options. 1052 01:04:06,040 --> 01:04:08,920 We've still got to stress to all the members. 1053 01:04:08,960 --> 01:04:11,400 You may not be a dirty scab but you're still a scab if you go back 1054 01:04:11,440 --> 01:04:14,320 after ten months now. Boys, we've still got to stick it out. 1055 01:04:14,360 --> 01:04:16,240 (ATTENDEES MURMUR IN AGREEMENT) (APPLAUSE) 1056 01:04:16,280 --> 01:04:19,680 With division and hardship intensifying, the South Wales 1057 01:04:19,720 --> 01:04:21,840 miners were struggling to keep going. 1058 01:04:21,880 --> 01:04:24,560 Times were so desperate. 1059 01:04:24,600 --> 01:04:27,080 I even heard about one family who cooked and ate their pet 1060 01:04:27,120 --> 01:04:29,840 rabbit, because there was literally nothing else to eat. 1061 01:04:32,720 --> 01:04:38,560 The breaking point of individuals is different, and when you think 1062 01:04:38,600 --> 01:04:42,720 that men have been out for 11 months and up to their neck in debt, 1063 01:04:42,760 --> 01:04:46,960 lots of men, throughout the British coalfield, are on breaking 1064 01:04:47,000 --> 01:04:49,960 point and you've got to recognise it. 1065 01:04:52,040 --> 01:04:56,720 I just broke down in tears one day after work because obviously 1066 01:04:56,760 --> 01:05:02,720 the stress had upset my system, and I cried then. 1067 01:05:02,760 --> 01:05:08,080 But I, I suppose you roll your sleeves up and you get on with it. 1068 01:05:10,400 --> 01:05:14,600 Somebody once asked me, what would happen if my husband said he 1069 01:05:14,640 --> 01:05:16,920 was going back to work? 1070 01:05:16,960 --> 01:05:18,800 And I said, 'I'd shoot him in the back.' 1071 01:05:18,840 --> 01:05:21,880 I haven't come through 11 months 1072 01:05:21,920 --> 01:05:25,280 of this strike to give up now. 1073 01:05:29,000 --> 01:05:32,120 Now, will you not negotiate with them, ever? 1074 01:05:32,160 --> 01:05:37,440 I will never negotiate with people who use coercion and violence 1075 01:05:37,480 --> 01:05:39,320 to achieve their objective. 1076 01:05:39,360 --> 01:05:42,920 They are the enemies of democracy, they are not interested in 1077 01:05:42,960 --> 01:05:46,080 the future of democracy, they are trying to kill democracy for 1078 01:05:46,120 --> 01:05:47,568 their own purposes. 1079 01:05:49,568 --> 01:05:50,000 their own purposes. 1080 01:05:57,280 --> 01:06:00,600 The conference recommends that the nationally organised return to 1081 01:06:00,640 --> 01:06:05,920 work should take place on Tuesday March 5th without an agreement. 1082 01:06:05,960 --> 01:06:09,240 Britain's longest running national strike is over. 1083 01:06:09,280 --> 01:06:13,040 Amongst scenes of bitterness and anger, NUM delegates voted 1084 01:06:13,080 --> 01:06:16,320 narrowly for an organised return to work on Tuesday. 1085 01:06:16,360 --> 01:06:20,360 You were fighting tooth and nail for something you believe in, and 1086 01:06:20,400 --> 01:06:23,240 that's hard to deal with. 1087 01:06:23,280 --> 01:06:27,280 It really... it really is hard to deal with. 1088 01:06:29,360 --> 01:06:34,000 Anger is the best-best word to use. 1089 01:06:34,040 --> 01:06:37,800 It was the feeling that we'd lost. 1090 01:06:37,840 --> 01:06:42,680 That's the thing, that we'd lost the strike. It felt awful. 1091 01:06:42,720 --> 01:06:45,880 She took our livelihoods from us, eventually. 1092 01:06:45,920 --> 01:06:50,520 As soon as '84 strike was over, the writing was on the wall for us. 1093 01:06:51,400 --> 01:06:55,720 She had it in her head that she was going to defeat us 1094 01:06:55,760 --> 01:06:59,560 and she defeated us, in the end. 1095 01:07:00,960 --> 01:07:06,040 Not a nice feeling. It was a sad day. But there you are. 1096 01:07:06,080 --> 01:07:10,200 You've just got to take it on the chin and fight another day. 1097 01:07:13,520 --> 01:07:15,240 Yeah. 1098 01:07:22,000 --> 01:07:26,440 We were there in South Wales when that was announced. 1099 01:07:26,480 --> 01:07:29,160 So, we were all heartbroken. 1100 01:07:29,200 --> 01:07:33,000 All that sacrifice had come to nothing and there's nothing 1101 01:07:33,040 --> 01:07:34,920 you can say. 1102 01:07:34,960 --> 01:07:39,280 I mean, we tried our best, er, and we hadn't won. 1103 01:07:39,320 --> 01:07:41,640 It's as simple as that. 1104 01:07:41,680 --> 01:07:45,840 Fair play to 'em, they tried to back us up, you know, and it's 1105 01:07:45,880 --> 01:07:50,160 alright, like, it'll be alright, and all this, but, we knew that 1106 01:07:50,200 --> 01:07:52,960 er, it wouldn't be alright. 1107 01:07:56,880 --> 01:07:58,360 (MALE VOICE CHOIR VOCALISING) 1108 01:08:16,000 --> 01:08:19,640 I think every man that was here this morning felt exactly the same. 1109 01:08:19,680 --> 01:08:22,880 They had a lump in their stomach, going in through these gates. 1110 01:08:22,920 --> 01:08:25,279 We want a livelihood. 1111 01:08:25,319 --> 01:08:29,319 We want to earn our own livelihood and we want to look after our 1112 01:08:29,359 --> 01:08:33,319 families and bring up our families the way we've been brought up 1113 01:08:33,359 --> 01:08:35,680 ourselves, with dignity. 1114 01:08:35,720 --> 01:08:37,760 And we want to go to work every morning. 1115 01:08:37,800 --> 01:08:40,439 Even though it's down that pit there and it's a stinking, horrible 1116 01:08:40,479 --> 01:08:41,479 place to work. 1117 01:08:41,520 --> 01:08:44,439 We want to go there with dignity. 1118 01:08:49,279 --> 01:08:54,960 You know, it broke my heart, every step that he took was like 1119 01:08:55,000 --> 01:08:56,720 a knife in his heart. 1120 01:08:56,760 --> 01:08:59,720 (MALE VOICE CHOIR SINGING FOR A FRIEND - THE COMMUNARDS) 1121 01:09:06,160 --> 01:09:10,319 It will be the last struggle of the working class. 1122 01:09:10,359 --> 01:09:14,279 The fight between the things that we'd known and loved all of 1123 01:09:14,319 --> 01:09:18,359 our lives and the things that were ahead of us that were unknown 1124 01:09:18,399 --> 01:09:21,720 and very frightening. 1125 01:09:21,760 --> 01:09:24,479 Mark Ashton. Phenomenal man. 1126 01:09:24,520 --> 01:09:26,120 Yeah, he would have... 1127 01:09:26,880 --> 01:09:29,840 (MALE VOICE CHOIR SINGING) 1128 01:09:36,080 --> 01:09:38,600 ..changed the world... 1129 01:09:38,640 --> 01:09:40,240 if he'd survived. 1130 01:09:44,479 --> 01:09:46,080 Oh God. 1131 01:09:47,680 --> 01:09:52,840 Yeah, many of my contemporaries didn't survive because of 1132 01:09:52,880 --> 01:09:57,160 AIDS and the world was deprived. 1133 01:09:58,760 --> 01:10:02,520 And it's my view Mark was a... a fine example of that. 1134 01:10:02,560 --> 01:10:05,600 (MALE VOICE CHOIR SINGING) 1135 01:10:14,360 --> 01:10:17,360 We lost quite a few people within Lesbians & Gays Support the 1136 01:10:17,400 --> 01:10:19,880 Miners to AIDS, yeah. 1137 01:10:19,920 --> 01:10:24,680 And fortunately, we didn't lose Jonathan, who miraculously 1138 01:10:24,720 --> 01:10:25,760 lived through it. 1139 01:10:25,800 --> 01:10:31,280 And so glad because Jonathan's still here and he's still dancing. 1140 01:10:33,360 --> 01:10:35,280 And I'm one of the lucky ones. 1141 01:10:35,320 --> 01:10:39,120 Joining Lesbian & Gay Men Support the Miners, it was brilliant 1142 01:10:39,160 --> 01:10:41,320 displacement activity. 1143 01:10:41,360 --> 01:10:43,960 (MALE VOICE CHOIR SINGING) 1144 01:10:45,080 --> 01:10:49,040 I was quite close to Mark. It was just devastating. 1145 01:10:50,520 --> 01:10:53,360 For such a powerful guy like him. 1146 01:10:55,040 --> 01:10:58,840 I never let this story stop and I never let this story die, 1147 01:10:58,880 --> 01:11:04,440 and I told this story, I've told this story forever. 1148 01:11:15,360 --> 01:11:19,480 The Gay Pride march in 1985 was a very, very special one. 1149 01:11:19,520 --> 01:11:22,120 The lesbians and gays had invited their new friends from 1150 01:11:22,760 --> 01:11:24,440 South Wales to come to march with them. 1151 01:11:24,480 --> 01:11:26,880 But they weren't sure anyone would actually come. 1152 01:11:26,920 --> 01:11:30,960 By now, we've got very deep, personal friendships with the 1153 01:11:31,000 --> 01:11:32,800 mining community in Wales. 1154 01:11:32,840 --> 01:11:36,440 They had been up to visit us in London twice at least during 1155 01:11:36,480 --> 01:11:40,400 the strike. So, there was no doubt, that we would invite them to come on 1156 01:11:40,440 --> 01:11:43,160 the Pride march in 1985. 1157 01:11:43,200 --> 01:11:46,720 I think one hoped that they would come, 1158 01:11:46,760 --> 01:11:49,440 because we were a community. 1159 01:11:49,480 --> 01:11:52,480 As they were waiting for the march to start, the miners started 1160 01:11:52,520 --> 01:11:54,440 to arrive in huge numbers. 1161 01:11:54,480 --> 01:11:57,800 Normally, you wouldn't even get any straight people at Pride, 1162 01:11:57,840 --> 01:12:00,200 never mind hundreds of miners. 1163 01:12:04,080 --> 01:12:07,680 The crowd grew and grew and grew. 1164 01:12:07,720 --> 01:12:10,960 Until one of the Pride organisers came up to us and said, 1165 01:12:11,000 --> 01:12:14,280 'You're going to have to be the ones who take us out the park.' 1166 01:12:14,320 --> 01:12:19,200 There were thousands of people walking behind Lesbians & 1167 01:12:19,240 --> 01:12:21,080 Gays Support the Miners banner. 1168 01:12:21,120 --> 01:12:23,920 It was history being made. It was fantastic. 1169 01:12:23,960 --> 01:12:26,400 Amazing. 1170 01:12:26,440 --> 01:12:30,400 There was all sorts of people there. A real carnival atmosphere then. 1171 01:12:30,440 --> 01:12:35,040 Well, it was a, sort of, a thank you to the gay community. 1172 01:12:35,080 --> 01:12:38,400 What they done for us is still with us. 1173 01:12:38,440 --> 01:12:41,400 Even 40 years on it's still with us. 1174 01:12:41,440 --> 01:12:45,680 I'm very proud that my friends that I made are still my friends. 1175 01:12:45,720 --> 01:12:47,960 You don't often get that in life. 1176 01:12:48,000 --> 01:12:51,440 You know, it's not about two people who fell in love. 1177 01:12:51,480 --> 01:12:53,960 It's about two communities that fell in love. 1178 01:12:54,000 --> 01:12:58,080 (MALE VOICE CHOIR SINGING SOLIDARITY FOREVER) 1179 01:13:12,880 --> 01:13:16,000 You know, the women that came from the mining valleys who were 1180 01:13:16,040 --> 01:13:18,560 marching had had their lives transformed. 1181 01:13:18,600 --> 01:13:21,840 You know, their lives were never the same again. 1182 01:13:21,880 --> 01:13:24,040 I spoke to a lot of women. 1183 01:13:24,080 --> 01:13:26,080 We're not going to be little housewives anymore. 1184 01:13:26,120 --> 01:13:27,560 Oh no. Oh no, no way. 1185 01:13:27,600 --> 01:13:30,360 I mean, we have decided that after this, we will join in 1186 01:13:30,400 --> 01:13:31,760 everything that's going. 1187 01:13:31,800 --> 01:13:34,040 I mean and I never went outside my front door. 1188 01:13:34,080 --> 01:13:37,760 I was very afraid that I would be pushed back in to that 1189 01:13:37,800 --> 01:13:42,640 traditional original role that I had been quite happy with. 1190 01:13:42,680 --> 01:13:46,800 Fortunately, I discovered a route through further education and 1191 01:13:46,840 --> 01:13:50,880 going to university fulfilled all those hopes and desires that 1192 01:13:50,920 --> 01:13:53,120 I had developed during the strike. 1193 01:14:01,400 --> 01:14:05,360 I got to a point in my life where I thought 'This is enough now', 1194 01:14:05,400 --> 01:14:11,360 and I'd already met my now wife, Emily, and it wasn't until 1195 01:14:11,400 --> 01:14:15,600 after she declared that she loved me โ€” here I am, getting 1196 01:14:15,640 --> 01:14:20,240 upset again, it's taken me a long time 1197 01:14:20,280 --> 01:14:23,880 but I can only thank the lesbians and gays of London 1198 01:14:23,920 --> 01:14:26,400 for allowing me to realise that 1199 01:14:26,440 --> 01:14:30,280 I can do that. Albeit 30 years later, I can still do that. 1200 01:14:30,960 --> 01:14:36,000 If I met 16-year-old Jayne now, I would say, 'You should just 1201 01:14:36,040 --> 01:14:41,680 be you and just one day, you know, you will be you,' yeah. 1202 01:14:44,040 --> 01:14:47,520 Just about Christmas time, I was walking down the street in, 1203 01:14:47,560 --> 01:14:51,960 in Cardiff and coming towards me were two young women and they 1204 01:14:52,000 --> 01:14:54,320 were hand in hand, walking towards me. 1205 01:14:54,360 --> 01:14:59,040 In my mind, that... (LAUGHS) 1206 01:14:59,080 --> 01:15:03,440 (VOICE BREAKING): In my mind, that's what I thought we should have. 1207 01:15:03,480 --> 01:15:05,800 (MALE CHOIR SINGING) 1208 01:15:23,000 --> 01:15:25,520 The support the miners went on to show the gay community, was 1209 01:15:25,560 --> 01:15:27,400 so important. 1210 01:15:27,440 --> 01:15:30,000 The rights queer people enjoy today were kick-started by this 1211 01:15:30,040 --> 01:15:31,640 amazing act of solidarity. 1212 01:15:31,680 --> 01:15:34,320 So, what's the lesson of the story? 1213 01:15:34,360 --> 01:15:37,160 If you think something isn't right, go out there and do something 1214 01:15:37,200 --> 01:15:38,640 about it. 1215 01:15:38,680 --> 01:15:42,360 Be loud. Be noisy. Be active. 1216 01:15:42,400 --> 01:15:44,960 Stand in solidarity with others who need help 1217 01:15:45,000 --> 01:15:47,480 and you can really make a difference. 1218 01:15:47,520 --> 01:15:49,840 (SCHOOL CHILDREN CHEER AND CLAP) 1219 01:15:49,880 --> 01:15:53,880 (MALE CHOIR SINGING) 1220 01:16:01,120 --> 01:16:05,600 Subtitles by Sky Access Services www.skyaccessibility.sky 103386

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