Hefina Headon
Hefina is a villager in the Welsh town that the LGSM supports. She leads a group of women who are debating on whether to accept the LGSM into their community and she fully supports their cause and welcomes them to the village despite opposition from other women in the group.
Jonathan Blake
Jonathan is one of the older members of LGSM, who fought for gay liberation prior to the struggles facing gay people in the 1980s. He is flamboyant and unapologetic, exhibiting no shame about his femininity, even in the conservative Welsh town. This pays off when he gets everyone to dance at a party held in the Welfare Hall, and he even ends up teaching several straight men in the community how to dance so as to impress their wives. We learn later in the film that he was the second person in the United Kingdom to test positive for HIV. He luckily hasn’t developed AIDS yet and continues to live healthily, which he credits to marijuana. He is in a relationship with Gethin. Together, they run a bookshop that acts as the meeting place of LGSM.
David (Dai) Donovan
David is the spokesperson for the union of miners and also a member of the strike committee. He is the first person to come and personally thank the LGSM, and while he is unfamiliar with gay culture, he willingly jumps in to make a connection with them and remains a loyal supporter of their cause.
Gethin Roberts
Gethin is Jonathan’s partner. He was kicked out of his home when he came out as gay, and grew up in Wales. When the LGSM makes a connection with the Welsh mining village, he resolves to visit his mother and make peace with her after all these years. While he is rather withdrawn, he eventually comes out of his shell and finds healing in his political work.
Joe Cooper
Joe is a closeted 20-year-old from Bromley. He finds himself accidentally falling in with the LGSM after taking the train into London on Gay Pride. He is shy and withdrawn, but learns to believe in himself more after working with the group. When his parents finally find out about his sexuality, they are completely prejudiced and unsupportive, and he moves out once and for all to make a life with his chosen family in London.
Mark Ashton
Mark is the founder of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM). He starts the group as a way to support miners who were being harassed by the police, and has a political passion that keeps all the other members on task. He is singleminded and fiery in his pursuit of political justice, at times to a fault. Sometimes his personal relations suffer because he is so geared towards the political, but his heart is in the right place and he is invaluable to the community, pulling everyone along. His strongest belief is that gay people have to take the insults that are hurled at them and turn them into points of pride, which keeps the movement afloat even in times of extreme bigotry and discouragement.
Steph
Steph is a dry-witted and tough lesbian who is a major part of the LGSM. She is also Joe's best friend and helps bring him along as he navigates gay life for the first time. At different points in the movie, she feels ambivalent about her personality, wondering if she should make herself softer to please people.
Cliff
Cliff is from Wales and a member of the town committee as well as the miners' union. He is shy and withdrawn, an older gentleman with a fondness for his town. As we learn later in the film, he is gay, but has never told anyone. The arrival and support of the LGSM gives him the confidence to come out of the closet and live his truth in his hometown.
