June is recognized as Pride Month in multiple countries, including the United Kingdom. This year, Durham, a city in the UK, cut funding to its annual Pride Parade. It was a devastating blow to the city’s LGBTQ community. Without the funding from the city, the parade would likely be postponed indefinitely. When the news spread, unlikely allies decided to stand in the gap. Coal miners from all over the UK stepped in to raise funds so the Durham LGBTQ community could go on with their parade. To understand the bond between the two unlikely communities, you have to rewind the clock 40 years. Man in orange inside minePhoto Credit: Canva But to understand the importance of Pride, you’d have to go back even further. LGBTQ people have been fighting for civil rights since the late 1800s in Germany, with the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee. The committee advocated for the decriminalization of homosexuality in Germany, according to the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. In 1924, Henry Gerber, a German immigrant and postal worker, founded The Society for Human Rights in Chicago, IL. It was the first gay rights organization in America according to LGBTQ History. In 1969, police infamously raided the LGBTQ bar Stonewall Inn. A riot ensued, catapulting LGBTQ rights into the spotlight. This riot kicked off the first Pride Parades, and they continue to this day to observe, celebrate, and remind people that the fight hasn’t ended. People waiving rainbow flags at a pride parade.Photo Credit: Canva People across the globe continue the tradition of Pride Parades, and Durham is no different. However, after the city canceled funding, the miners took it upon themselves to repay a four-decade-old debt. In 1984, 20,000 miners were fired as a retaliation against the miners’ unions in the UK. This mass firing led to massive union-backed strikes, which prompted Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to deny all of the unions’ national funding. On Instagram, Patch Bay Media shares, “This forced the miners to go to smaller local groups to ask for help, so they could continue their rightful strike. But then, a group of London activists decided that they didn’t like this injustice and took to the streets to raise money.” View this post on Instagram The post adds that the group became known as the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM). “Together they raised £22,500, which is about £70,000 in today’s money. That year, to show their support and their solidarity with the community, miners from working-class backgrounds, covered in coal dust, marched in the front of Pride Parades all across the country.” It’s due to this relationship that started in 1984 that miners in Durham today took it upon themselves to raise money for the Pride Parade. In fact, the Durham Miner’s Association raised more money than the city would’ve normally given. The post says, “So this year, Durham will have its biggest Pride Parade ever, and that is the power of advocacy.” Viewers of the informational video love the solidarity between the two groups, with one person writing, “Queer rights are workers rights, and workers rights are queer rights.” Two women wrapped in rainbow flagPhoto Credit: Canva Another says, “We are stronger when we remember we have more in common with our neighbors than our oppressors.” Several people shared that there’s a movie called Pride about this very unique solidarity. And someone who attended this year’s Pride Parade in Durham shares that it was indeed the largest event: “I was at durham pride on saturday in my LGSM t-shirt! the best turnout I’ve seen since I started attending in 2018. I was so pleased to see the various trade unions and miners banners there.” The post After a UK city defunded their Pride parade, trade unions raised money to fund it appeared first on Upworthy.