The trailer of Pride, a new British film about an unlikely alliance between gay activists and striking miners during the Thatcher years has been getting a lot of publicity. It looks like its going to be a really great film to watch, Billy Elliott with much more gay interest (Billy did have that nicely handled bit about his camp best friend).
But this piece from the Observer is worth reading and watching because, apart from giving the trailer for those who haven't seen it, it also gives a lot about the true story the film is based on and interviews with people who were part of it. Most of all, it gives a short documentary that was made at that time which really gives you a strong sense of what the story was and why it is important. http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/aug/31/pride-film-gay-activists-miners-strike-interview The very strong point that comes from both film trailer and documentary and all the interviews is the importance of looking beyond the struggles of one's own group and linking up with those of others. Sometimes its important to support people who might not be directly supporting you back, and it can pay off. The gays and lesbians supported the miners at a time when there wasn't much support for them in the labour rights movement, and it paid off when the miners supported gays and lesbians in pushing their issues onto a larger platform. It is a lesson that we have started learning in India. Groups like LABIA and Sangama, and many individuals on both sides have played an important role in getting labour rights activists to support lgbt issues. And it works in other directions as well - animal rights activists, religious groups and corporates can be teamed up with as well, but of course all this has its risks. There will always be issues of conflict, where one group of allies clashes with another and perhaps some disputes can never be bridged. The other problem is that over time different groups benefit differently from broader social progress. In this case it seems that lgbt rights have advanced whereas labour rights have not. The miners lost and lost badly. LGBT rights have become mainstream. And perhaps this was inevitable given the realities of dying industries and a greater focus on individual rights. There are complex trade offs and some inescapable realities. But this is why reading the interviews with the people involved is important. The piece tracks how their lives changed and the extent to which the events dramatised in the film affected them - not a huge amount maybe, in the course of longer lives, but still significant. And it seems unlikely that any of them have ever regretted the involvement. In the end, however it played out, it was a generous gesture and well received and the goodwill it created on both sides was the really important legacy. Vikram
