Lesbians Against Pit Closures (LAPC) were an alliance of

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. 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 n ...

women who came together to support the National Union of Mineworkers and various mining communities during the UK miners' strike of 1984–1985. 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 during the year-long strike of 1984–1985. By the end of the strike, eleven LGSM groups had emerged in the UK ...

(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 called a scab, blackleg, or knobstick) is a person who works despite a strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who were not employed by the company before the trade union dispute but hired after or during the str ...

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 it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...

and

lesbophobia Lesbophobia comprises various forms of prejudice and negativity towards lesbians as individuals, as couples, or as a social group. Based on the categories of sex, sexual orientation, identity, and gender expression, this negativity encompasses ...

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 to ...

, to help bring

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

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 and ...

. Some women said they were intimidated by the

gay men Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual and homoromantic men may also dually identify as gay, and a number of young gay men also identify as queer. Historically, gay men have been referred to by a number of different terms, including ' ...

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

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

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 LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to sham ...

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

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

, 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 or Clause 28While going through Parliament, the amendment was constantly relabelled with a variety of clause numbers as other amendments were added to or deleted from the Bill, but by the final version of the Bill, which received R ...

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 in Neath Port Talbot, Wales, near Seven Sisters. History First developed by the Romans, the local village Banwen is confined to the Roman Road of Sarn Helen. There are two Roman forts and the remai ...

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

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0402951, All Out! Dancing in Dulais (1986) 1984 in LGBT history 1985 in LGBT history Lesbian feminist organizations Lesbian organisations based in the United Kingdom Lesbian working-class culture LGBT socialism Socialist feminist organizations UK miners' strike (1984–1985) Working-class feminism

History

Activities and fundraising

Depiction in ''Pride''

See also

References

External links