solidarity: these words best sum up the magnificent Lesbian and Gay Pride march ast saturaay. Weari 10,000 Lesbian and Gay men turned out to make it one of the biggest ever in this But unique to Pride '85 was the presence of a large contingent of women and men from the South Wales Mining Community at the head of the march.
Their lead, and the large contingent of militant Lesbian and Gay banners and organisations which assembled behind them, gave the march a mood of anger at the attacks on the Lesbian and Gay communities in the last year - from the trial of Gays the Word bookshop to the mass hysteria whipped up around AIDS It gave it also a mood of public resistance and greater confidence as a result of victories already Organisation continues to grow within a number of trade unions; NALGO for example has now established a national Lesbian and Gay Steering NUPE NALGO have issueds for their Canne membership on AIDS which seek to counterac press hysteria. The debate within the LPYS: continues despite the hostility of Militant and the weakness of Lesbian and Gay Young Socialists.
But it was the development of Lesbians and Gay deeper into the than ever before. In the two previous mates strikes, around the Right to Work marches and within CND, lesbians and gay men have We have organised. had visible contingents on THE LAST year has been a very positive one for lesbian and gay liberation. The Labour Campaign for Lesbian and Gay Rights has continued to grow and we look likely to see the first ever debate at Labour most major demonstraBut despite all this we have been ignored or scorned by many movement took the great strike of 34 activists. these notions to Challenged in a new way -not only by lesbians and . — but by.significant numbers heterosexual unionists.
Dai Donovan, Dowlais NUM told us at are wish want and along with women black people not separate from the working class, but a crucial part of Hopefully his Dail unents are now snarco o militants not only within the NUM but generally within the labour movement.
Given all this, would have hoped that the organisation of Pride 85 would have sought to build these developments. After all, Lesbian and Gay Pride primarily celebration the Stonewall riots where peo ple in the pubs and clubs rioted against police repression.
Sadly this years organisers seem determined to make the event apolitical as possible. As socialists, we would agree that as many lesbians and gay mina possible should 'invo ved including those who spend their time one come sease Neval Was born, here Stonewall Lesbians _Gay men support the Miners often had a warm hearing working class lesbian and zay pubs. But for the gain of the last years to be con solidated then we have to develop an even firmer tion throughout our activities.