Syracuse University SURFACE at Syracuse University Theses - ALL 1-1-2017 Affect, Coalitional Politics, and Pride: Imagining Activism through Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners and the United Kingdom Miners’ Strike of 1984-5 Cameron Whitfield Gaynor Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/thesis Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Gaynor, Cameron Whitfield, Aff" ect, Coalitional Politics, and Pride: Imagining Activism through Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners and the United Kingdom Miners’ Strike of 1984-5" (2017). Theses - ALL. 123. https://surface.syr.edu/thesis/123 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by SURFACE at Syracuse University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses - ALL by an authorized administrator of SURFACE at Syracuse University. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Abstract The United Kingdom Miners’ Strike began on 6 March 1984 as a response to the closure of five pits without adequate review, as well as Margaret Thatcher’s unwillingness to reach any compromise. The almost year long strike ended without victory and is known as one of the bitterest industrial disputes in UK history. Thatcher’s motives for closing the pits were to grow the economy by importing coal, oil, and gas, as well as cut back on inefficient pits within the United Kingdom. At the height of the strike, 142,000 miners were active in the movement and faced harassment by police, officials, and the general public as a result. To support the miners, many activist groups formed to aid in strike efforts, one of these groups being Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, a London-based activist group who formed a relationship with the mining community in Wales’ Dulais Valley.