In June 1985, the annual London Gay Pride Parade was held as scheduled. When the participants came to the scene enthusiastically carrying slogans and flags, they were told that no political slogans were allowed in this year’s parade. , The policeman who kept wandering around the parade suggested maliciously, "Have fun, this is a party, don't make everything so extreme." However, in this grand parade, more than 10,000 demonstrators still took to the streets. The scale was larger than before, and it changed the meaning of "Pride Parade." Surprisingly, the phalanx at the forefront of the team is a representative of the Coal Miners Association from Wales.
The revolutionary friendship between the working class and comrades was a forgotten chapter in the British labor movement in the 1980s. In the early 1980s, the neoliberal government decided to close more than 20 coal mines in the territory, leaving more than 20,000 miners facing unemployment. In order to express their protests, the miners’ unions in northern England and Wales launched a series of large-scale strikes in 1984. However, prolonged strikes have led to a substantial decline in workers’ incomes, and the ambitious miners’ unions are financially stretched. At this time, the "Comrade Support Miners" organization reached out to them. On one side are the miners murdered by Thatcher on the altar of monetarism, on the other side are the confused gays in a conservative society. They are also disadvantaged groups and they have reached an unprecedented political alliance. They support each other in the struggle and oppose the law and The oppression of authority. Matthew Watchus' energetic film "Pride" leads us back to the scene, hoping to remember this important history of resistance.
Before "Pride", "Milk" has shown us how comrades as a force can do their best to speak out on the political stage. The ordinary homosexuals depicted in "Pride" belong to the lower class of society. Mark Ashton, a 24-year-old LGBT activist, felt the unfair treatment of disadvantaged groups and decided to gather like-minded people in his community to donate to the miners’ guild. Fundraising is not easy, and getting miners to accept donations is even more difficult. The film has spent a lot of effort to describe the process of mutual acceptance by two completely different social groups. What is gratifying is that this process of cultivating trust and class friendship in the film is very interesting. Society has its cruel side, but "Pride" is more obsessed with the human touch behind the cruelty. The film’s narrative perspective is quite balanced. The gay community is composed of a group of energetic young people who have a lasting perseverance and are grateful for all the good deeds that try to accept them. Mark Ashton is their politically demanding leader. Unlike most gay movies, "Pride" is not addicted to the sensory world, and the gays under the camera are not a group of fancy girls or tomboys. In the movie, they laugh and curse, looking like a group of college students going through a rebellious period. With a kind of loveliness that is higher than the sky.
The miner group is relatively complicated. Women are generally more tolerant and open than men. The secretaries Sian and Hefina are bold and firm. They are in a closed town and don’t know about comrades, but this does not prevent them from coming to this group with unprecedented enthusiasm. Supporters become firm allies. The union decision-maker Dai and the city hall activity room owner Cliff also expressed gratitude to the comrades for their help. Other hostile members gradually abandoned their prejudices and corrected their misconceptions of sexism over time. "Men in Wales never dance." When a female resident complained to the gay group in a bar, Jonathan Blake turned up the disco volume. Wriggling in the crowd, when the joyous atmosphere reached its climax, the last remaining hostility in the activity room of the city hall also disappeared. The young men in the town even took the initiative to ask for the experience of becoming a "dance floor emperor". In fact, Jonathan Blake, who gained the trust of workers with his superb dancing style, is an unavoidable figure in gay history. When AIDS first entered the public eye in the mid-1980s, he was the first confirmed HIV carrier in the UK. Today, he is over 60 years old and is still active on the stage of the gay rights movement.
Historically, the "comrade support miners" movement was not successful. After years of unsuccessful strikes, the miners gradually resumed work in the winter of 1985. The government won the final victory. The workers returning to the mine still held a "loyalty parade" accompanied by a brass band. The gay group who had helped them were also regarded as heroes by the local community. In this way, comrades and workers collide with sparks under unexpected circumstances. You can help us from disadvantaged groups and fulfill each other's political demands. "Pride" is a passionate historical retrospect. The 80s gay sports activity space, such as London's Gay's the Word bookstore, Electric Ballroom dance hall, and the sensational "Pits and Perverts" fundraising concert are all present. Shown in the movie one by one. The vigorous atmosphere of the labor movement in small towns in Wales reminds us of the socially caring images of the socialist director Ken Lodge in the early years. When trucks of Welsh worker representatives arrived one after another, vying to form a huge phalanx at the forefront of the "Pride Parade" team, our emotions were once again ignited by the flames of revolutionary friendship. There will always be a voice in pursuit of freedom and equality that will break the rigid air, and there will always be an understanding worthy of our "long live" tribute.
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