Lesbians Against Pit Closures (LAPC) were an alliance of

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

women who came together to support the National Union of Mineworkers and various mining communities during the

UK miners' strike of 1984–1985 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. They were formed after a

schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

in the

Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) was an alliance of lesbians and gay men who supported the National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain), National Union of Mineworkers during the year-long UK miners' strike (1984–1985), strike of 1 ...

(LGSM) movement, in November 1984. Members of the organisation were involved in picket line protests against the delivery of coal to the factories by

strikebreakers A strikebreaker (sometimes pejoratively called a scab, blackleg, bootlicker, blackguard or knobstick) is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers may be current employees ( union members or not), or new hires to keep the org ...

History

LAPC originated when a number of lesbian LGSM members decided they needed to split from LGSM to create a women-only space for lesbians. This was mainly due to issues concerning

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...

and

lesbophobia Discrimination against lesbians, sometimes called lesbophobia, comprises various forms of prejudice and negativity towards lesbians as individuals, as couples, as a social group, or lesbianism in general. Based on the categories of sex, sexu ...

among men in the LGSM movement. Ray Goodspeed, an LGSM member, says: "The men in the meetings were generally like men in most meetings", and according to founders of LAPC, when the issues of a lesbian-only organisation were discussed in LGSM, "they GSM membersoften snorted with derision". LAPC was also formed as a group to give women a voice, as with

Women Against Pit Closures Women Against Pit Closures was a political movement supporting miners and their families in the UK miners' strike of 1984–1985. The movement is credited with bringing feminist ideas into practice in an industrial dispute and empowering women t ...

, to help bring

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

ideas into a working men's sphere, such as a

miners' institute Miners' institutes, sometimes known as ''workingmen's institutes'', ''mine workers' institutes'', or ''miners' welfare halls'' are large institutional buildings that were typically built during the height of the industrial period as a meeting an ...

. Some women said they were intimidated by the

gay men Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual men, bisexual and homoromantic men may dually identify as ''gay'' and a number of gay men also identify as ''queer''. Historic terminology for gay men has included ''Sexual inversion (sexology), in ...

who made up the bulk of LGSM membership. The alliances which the campaign forged between

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

and labour groups also proved to be an important turning point in the progression of LGBT issues in the United Kingdom. Miners' labour groups began to support and endorse and participate in various

LGBT pride In the context of LGBTQ culture, pride (also known as LGBTQ pride, LGBTQIA pride, LGBT pride, queer pride, gay pride, or gay and lesbian pride) is the promotion of the rights, self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility o ...

events throughout the UK; at the 1985 Labour Party conference in

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

, a resolution committing the party to support LGBT equality rights passed for the first time due to block voting support from the National Union of Mineworkers; and miners' groups were among the most outspoken allies of the LGBT community in the 1988 campaign against

Section 28 Section 28 refers to a part of the Local Government Act 1988, which stated that Local government in the United Kingdom, local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with t ...

Activities and fundraising

LAPC used some similar tactics to LGSM, such as rattling buckets outside of bars and clubs to raise money for the miners, but operated with a specific focus on women's issues. They held weekly planning meetings, for which they shared the duties of taking and sending out minutes, and photocopying. They organized daily collections outside supermarkets, visited pit village, attended picket lines, and organized women-only benefit nights. They marched with their banner in the Lesbian Strength March in 1985 and the London Gay Pride March in 1985, alongside LGSM and the mining communities. At one point they organized a women-only day at Kentish Town Women's Centre for themselves and some of the mining women from Dulais valley. With LGSM, they were a part of a short promotional film about the two group's unified work during the Miners' Strike called ''All Out! Dancing in Dulais''.

Depiction in ''Pride''

The film ''Pride'', which depicted the unity of LGSM and the

Onllwyn Onllwyn () is a small village and Community (Wales), community in Neath Port Talbot, Wales, near Seven Sisters, Neath Port Talbot, Seven Sisters. The community area also covers the small settlements of Dyffryn Cellwen and Banwen. To the north is ...

mining community in Wales, also mentioned the LAPC splinter organisation.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, qid=Q6530271, title=All Out! Dancing in Dulais (1986) 1984 in LGBTQ history 1985 in LGBTQ history Lesbian feminist organizations Lesbian organisations based in the United Kingdom Lesbian working-class culture LGBTQ labor organizations LGBTQ socialism Socialist feminist organizations UK miners' strike (1984–1985) Working-class feminism

History

Activities and fundraising

Depiction in ''Pride''

See also

References

External links