Pride

By markontour, September 27, 2014

Pride is a life-affirming blast of political drama. It joyously, and sometimes poignantly, tells the true story of how a group of gay and lesbian activists saw enough parallels between the struggles of striking miners and their own fight against oppression to make solidarity with a Welsh coal village.

Raising money in London bars and clubs, Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners overcame initial bigotry to becme the most important support group to an entire village of striking miners throughout the 1984 conflict.

This is a story of bravery, prejudice, and, ultimately, the extraordinary power of solidarity. Pride is also a beautifully observed social commentary of working class life in the early 1980s. My family are from South Wales and I can absolutely imagine my Nan asking the same hilariously genuine question posed by an elderly miner’s wife upon meeting the gay support group for the first time: “There’s one thing I’ve always wanted to know about lesbians… is it true that you’re all vegetarians?”

Macho miners learning to disco dance, that dawning reality of AIDS, the inspiration of ordinary people becoming extraordinary in their resolution to fight for equality and preserve dignity, plus a top-drawer performance by Burton’s-own Paddy Considine and a shout of Billy Bragg at the end – if you want a full-on laugh and cry film then this is it. All I could blubber at the end was “can we come to see Pride every Friday night?”