"Pits and Perverts"

It's a bit ironic that if
Maggie had let the miners win
Today gays and lesbians
Might still be living in sin.
For back in the Eighties
They were all 'dirty AIDS carriers'
And it took the Great Miners Strike
To break down the barriers.
Lesbians and gays supporting the pitmen
Took their community to heart
Not just tacklnig ignorance
But blowing it apart.
Genuine working class solidarity
Across sexuality and gender
In the end it didn't matter
If you were flamboyant or a bender.
Not long after the strike was lost
There were still the old fights
As the Labour Party adopted
Lesbian and gay rights.
This was only pushed through
Because of Scargill's boys block vote
Gays and straights all equal
Instead of at each others throat.
If it wasn't for those with buckets
Collecting loose change and notes
We'd never have had equality
As pandering to poofs doesn't win votes.
Now three decades later
Their story is being told
One that was almost forgotten
But truly one to behold.
The miners may have been beaten
But you held your principles up high
You sowed the seeds for equality
For which we should be grateful til we die.
You achieved the impossible
With your 'Pits & Perverts Ball'
Whoever you were, wherever you are
Hold your head high and walk tall.

Dulwich Poet 6th October 2014

(During the Great Miners Strike of 1984/85 a group was set up from London called Lesbians & Gays Support the Miners. It raised over £22,000 for the strikers in a South Wales mining community. The year after the Miners Strike ended the Labour Party adopted an equality motion supporting lesbians and gays. It was carried only because of the backing of the National Union of Mineworkers)