1984. ‘Pits and Perverts’ Benefit Concert.
Poster for ‘Pits and Perverts’ Benefit concert, London, 1984. Design and copyright Kevin Franklin
The ‘Pits and Perverts” concert was a benefit gig organised by the London Lesbian and Gays Support the Miners group.
No one is quite sure where the title came from: originally thought to derive from a newspaper headline it now seems more likely that it was merely a parody of tabloid representations of lesbians and gay men. As with the word ‘queer’, perverts has become another word that was originally meant to injure but has been used instead as a symbol of defiance and unity in the face of Margaret Thatcher’s powerful Press baron friends.
The concert itself was a huge financial success – raising £5650 (the equivalent of more than £20,000 in today’s money) for striking miners and their families in South Wales. But it was also the scene of a truly historic political breakthrough when a spokesperson from the National Union of Mineworkers got up on the stage to tell the 1500-strong audience:
“You have worn our badge, ‘Coal not Dole’, and you know what harassment means, as we do. Now we will pin your badge on us; we will support you. It won’t change overnight, but now 140,000 miners know that there are other causes and other problems. We know about blacks, and gays and nuclear disarmament, and will never be the same.”
And they were true to their word. Not only did they bring their trade union banners to the 1985 Gay and Lesbian Pride Rally in London, but they also helped push through gay rights policies at the 1985 Labour Party Conference, in the face of opposition from that Party’s National Executive.
As for the concert headliners, Bronski Beat, it was to be one of their last gigs in their original format. Growing tensions within the band saw lead singer Jimmy Somerville quit to set up The Communards in April the following year.
Despite taking place nearly 30 years ago, the ‘Pits and Perverts’ story continues to be told – and quite rightly so since it was an important event in Britain’s gay and lesbian history. A new play with that name is currently in production in Northern Ireland and the theatre company – Sole Purpose – is hoping to make contact with people who were involved with LGSM. If anyone can help, please get in touch with them through their website.
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Hello Colin
We are in the process of producing Unite the union’s LGBT History Month poster for our members. We would like to include “Pits and Perverts’ Benefit concert” image in this poster. I have been trying to find Kevin Franklin to get his permission to use the image but to no avail. Can you please help?
Many thanks
Anooshah
I was a punk/hippy at the time and i remember some of the bad things that happened during the Thatcher years .
I missed the Leccy ballroom gig,great venue though.
They should have done another gig at The Music Machine/Camden Palace.
I’m sure it would have been just as successful.
Considering this was going on at the same time as the whole Aids/Hiv thing was happening,the welcome from the mining community towards the gay/lesbian community was incredible.
P.S..I did put money into the collection buckets 🙂
Blimey .just listening to Bronski Beat ,it brings u right back to the 80’s 🙂
A little known piece of information. One of the support acts for Bronski Beat at the miners benefit event was a band called Oppenheimer Ransom.
I was at that gig, still got the pink triangle I bought. Fantastic night.
My name is Martin Husk. I was involved with LGSM in a small way. Shaking buckets ect. I had a brief affair with Mark Ashton and he became a good friend. I am still in touch with Jimi Somerville
Hi Martin, We have just written a song about Mark Ashton and LGSM as way of tribute so this may mean something to you. If you could also get Jimmy to hear it that would be great.
https://soundcloud.com/this-human-condition/pride-in-all-of-us
I remember the event extremely well. I was living in a house in Tufnell Park, not far from the venue. One of my housemates, an Australian named Dennis, told me about the benefit and urged me to come along with him and his friend … Hugh? So I went. I may have a badge still – I’ll have a look!
Bronski Beat had suddenly become very famous right at that moment – so it was rather impressive to see them performing there, in front of us all, in the Electric Ballroom.
You are very right to stress the importance of the moment when we were addressed by the NUM representative – in fact, I think that more than one person representing the miners’ communities spoke to us. I am not so sure it was a “truly historic political breakthrough”, though. How much I wish that had been the case! How much I wish that the following decades since then had witnessed the type of solidarity and hope which a truly historic political breakthrough would have led to. I am afraid I am much sadder about what I’ve witnessed over the intervening years since 1984. But historic breakthrough or not, it was an incredibly moving, powerful moment.
And I do recall that people from the miners’ communities played a major and visible role a few years later in the campaign against Clause 28 in 1987/88. I recall myself addressing a rally in a park in south London (on behalf of a group called “Jews Against the Clause”) – and there were certainly speakers there from the NUM or at least representing the miners’ families/communities: and they got a very warm welcome from the crowd of something like 30,000. That too was a very powerful moment of connection, of solidarity, of shared commitment.
When I read about the film “Pride” two years ago, as they say – it all came flooding back. It’s wonderful that such a film was made. It’s great that Mark Ashton has been remembered and his contribution honoured. I think it’s now (2017) about 30 years since he died. He did not live even long enough to experience the fight against Clause 28 – what a loss, what a tragedy. I hope too that the short documentary “Dancing in Dulais” doesn’t get totally forgotten – it was a contemporary record of the LGSM phenomenon, as I recall it – made around 1985, I think (and it wasn’t called “All Out!”, which seems to have become its new name, I discover).
It was an honour to be in the company of people so full of concern and compassion and devotion to justice. Sorry to sound so despondent about the world since 1984!
(Rabbi) James Baaden
Thanks for your memories of this James. Just to clarify, the LGSM film is called ‘ All Out! Dancing in Dulais’, although it does seem increasingly to be referred to as ‘Dancing in Dulais’. https://youtu.be/lHJhbwEcgrA
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HI IM TOTALLY NEW TO THE WHOLE STORY FOUND IT THROUGH THE FILM PRIDE CAN ANYBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHO COMPARED THE SHOW, I THOUGHT IT WAS MARK AFTER WATCHING THE FILM, I KNOW NOW IT WASNT MARK, IF ANYBODY CAN HELP THANK YOU,
Jonathan’s real partner Nigel compered at least some of (Nigel wasn’t in the film. Stephen Beresford, the screenplay author paired Jonathan up with Gethin)
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