TRAILER: Pride

IMDB has the synopsis:

It's the summer of 1984. Margaret Thatcher is in power and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is on strike. At the Gay Pride March in London, a group of gay and lesbian activists decides to raise money to support the families of the striking miners. But there is a problem. The Union seems embarrassed to receive their support. But the activists are not deterred. They decide to ignore the Union and go direct to the miners. They identify a mining village in deepest Wales and set off in a mini bus to make their donation in person. And so begins the extraordinary story of two seemingly alien communities who form a surprising and ultimately triumphant partnership.

The film opens in the UK on September 12th.

(Tipped by JMG reader David)

Pat Robertson's Network Cheers Thatcher

Yesterday Pat Robertson's CBN network quoted Margaret Thatcher's support for Britain's infamous Section 28 and applauded her campaign to have Christianity taught in public schools.

Quote Of The Day - Deacon Nick Donnelly

"Faithful Catholics and Christians of the United Kingdom owe Margaret Thatcher our lasting gratitude for attempting to protect our children from homosexual propaganda being taught in schools and for stopping local councils promoting homosexuality through Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 until its tragic repeal in 2003.  Margaret Thatcher had the foresight to see that homosexual activists would seek to indoctrinate children at school with the false idea of the ‘acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship’ and the political and moral courage to legally prohibit the promotion of homosexuality by teaching. The tragedy is that the Conservative party is now led by David and Samantha Cameron who are hell bent on foisting on the country the ultimate homosexual pretense of a family relationship, same-sex marriage. God bless you Margaret Thatcher for trying to protect our children from homosexual ideology being taught in the class room."- Deacon Nick Donnelly of the Diocese of Lancaster, writing for Defend The Pope.

Wingnuts Furious Over "Thatcher Snub"

Actually President Obama did send two former US secretaries of state that served during Thatcher's reign.

President Obama's delegation to the funeral of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher is drawing some flak in London. Two former Republican secretaries of State -- James Baker and George Shultz -- will lead the U.S. delegation to the Thatcher funeral on Wednesday. Some British press reports noted that the delegation does not include a former president or a member of the current Obama administration. "Friends and allies of Baroness Thatcher expressed 'surprise and disappointment' last night as it emerged President Obama is not planning to send any serving member of his administration to her funeral," reports the Daily Mail.

Protesters Boo Thatcher Funeral

A crowd of protesters booed the funeral procession of Margaret Thatcher today. Chants included "Tory scum" and "Maggie, Maggie, Maggie! Dead, dead, dead!"

London Marathon: We Will Go On

Organizers for the London Marathon vow that this weekend's race will go on as scheduled but that attendees and participants should prepare for extremely tight security measures. Also being planned is heightened security for Wednesday's funeral for Margaret Thatcher.

“In light of the awful attacks in Boston, they will require extra vigilance from everyone involved and it is also to be hoped that everyone recognizes the added responsibility of cooperating with the police and the authorities at both events.” David Lowe, a specialist in security at sports events, told the BBC, “I think you are going to find a lot of surveillance on the crowds.” Among spectators, “there could be people looking elsewhere for totally different reasons, I can imagine that the security will be stepped up.” “We have the two events where we have got to make sure, certainly the security services and the police, have got to make sure it is as tight as possible.”

HomoQuotable - Sir Ian McKellan

"Lest we forget, this nasty, brutish and short measure of the third Thatcher administration, was designed to slander homosexuality, by prohibiting state schools from discussing positively gay people and our 'pretended family relations.' Opposition to Section 28 galvanised a new generation of activists who joined with long-time campaigners for equality. Stonewall UK was founded to repeal Section 28 and pluck older rotten anti-gay legislation from the constitutional tree. This has taken two decades to achieve.

"Pathetically, in her dotage, Baroness Thatcher was led by her supporters into the House of Lords to vote against Section 28's repeal: her final contribution to UK politics. She dies too early to oppose Parliament's inevitable acceptance of same–gender marriage. Thatcher misjudged the future when, according to her deputy chief whip, she 'threw a piece of red meat (Section 28) to her right-wing wolves.' Some of these beasts survive her, albeit de-fanged. When, to take a recent example, a disgraced cardinal delivers anti-gay diatribes, the spirit of social Thatcherism is revealed as barren, hypocritical and now pointless." - Sir Ian McKellan, writing on his website.

BBC: No "Ding Dong" Song

Saying that they are "between a rock and a hard place," the BBC announced today that they will only play a five-second snippet of Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead during this weekend's countdown of the Top 40.

Sales of Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead have soared since the former Prime Minister's death on Monday, aged 87. Mr Cooper called the decision "a difficult compromise". The song is set to take the number three spot in Sunday's countdown, according to the Official Charts Company. Speaking to Radio 1 Newsbeat, Mr Cooper said: "The decision I have made is I am not going to play it in full but that I will play a clip of it in a news environment. "When I say a news environment, that is a newsreader telling you about the fact that this record has reached a certain place in the chart and here is a clip of that track."

In a separate blog post, the head of Radio 1 added this: "To ban the record from our airwaves completely would risk giving the campaign the oxygen of further publicity and might inflame an already delicate situation."

Thatcher Funeral To Cost £10M

The funeral for Margaret Thatcher will cost an estimated £10M, a figure which will surely provide fodder for the critics of the Iron Lady's famed austerity principles.  More on the planning:

The ceremony will be held at St Paul's Cathedral in London next Wednesday. The Queen and Prince Philip have already confirmed they will go. The guest list for the funeral was drawn up by Lady Thatcher's family with the assistance of the government and the Conservative Party, with more than 2,000 invitations being dispatched on Friday. It will be the first funeral of a British politician the Queen has attended since that of Sir Winston Churchill in 1965.

Broadcaster Andrew Neil and actor Michael Crawford will be present, as will Tory donor Lord Harris and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Those who have already confirmed they will not be attending include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan's widow Nancy. Neither George Bush Senior, Mr Reagan's vice-president who succeeded him in the White House, nor his son George W Bush, US president between 2001 and 2009, will be attending.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been invited to attend, but it's not yet clear how the Obama administration might be represented.  Newt Gingrich says he is going.

Number Five And Rising

On Monday I reported about the Facebook campaign to send Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead to the top of the British pop chart. At this writing the tune is #5 and rising, but it's not yet clear if the BBC will include the track in its weekly countdown.

In a statement it said: "The Official Chart Show on Sunday is a historical and factual account of what the British public has been buying and we will make a decision about playing it when the final chart positions are clear." The song was written by EY Harburg and composed by Harold Arlen and featured in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

Elvis Costello's 1989 anti-Thatcher song, Tramp The Dirt Down, also this week re-entered the chart at #79.

MP Glenda Jackson: Thatcherism Reeked

Two-time Oscar winner Glenda Jackson has been a Labour member of Parliament for 21 years. Watch her blistering takedown of Thatcherism.

(Via Boy Culture)

Morrissey On Margaret Thatcher

"Thatcher was not a strong or formidable leader. She simply did not give a shit about people, and this coarseness has been neatly transformed into bravery by the British press who are attempting to re-write history in order to protect patriotism. As a result, any opposing view is stifled or ridiculed, whereas we must all endure the obligatory praise for Thatcher from David Cameron without any suggestion from the BBC that his praise just might be an outburst of pro-Thatcher extremism from someone whose praise might possibly protect his own current interests. The fact that Thatcher ignited the British public into street-riots, violent demonstrations and a social disorder previously unseen in British history is completely ignored by David Cameron in 2013. In truth, of course, no British politician has ever been more despised by the British people than Margaret Thatcher." - Morrissey, adding that he expects tear gas to be used on protesters during Thatcher's funeral. (Via Pitchfork)

The Iron Lady Of Soft-Serve

The Atlantic mentions today that before she became a politician, Margaret Thatcher was part of a team that developed soft-serve ice cream.

While Thatcher's exact contribution to the effort remains, in a way that would foreshadow her future political career, a matter of controversy, her team ultimately succeeded. And the work resulted, ultimately, in the swirly stuff we know today as soft serve. (Or, if you're in Britain, "soft scoop.") J. Lyons's airy dairy was served from ice cream trucks -- under the brand Mr. Whippy -- in Great Britain.

I'll mention her name the next I visit the Mister Softee truck.

RELATED: Today is #FreeConeDay at Ben & Jerry's stores worldwide. Somebody bring me a Chubby Hubby. Ahem.

Ann Coulter Vs Sarah Palin

Yesterday Ann Coulter claimed that Margaret Thatcher turned down a meeting with Sarah Palin after Palin ignored her offer to teach her "proper English."

“One thing that I know, because I know people who know her, is when Sarah Palin first burst on the scene, she wanted to have a meeting with Palin, because she saw raw political talent, but wanted to teach Sarah Palin to do what she did,” Coulter said. “I just know it from friends of hers — to teach [Palin] to speak proper English. Sarah Palin did not meet with her. And just a year or two ago, when Sarah Palin was promoting some reality show or something, she went to England and she announced to the press that she was planning on dropping by to see Lady Thatcher. And Lady Thatcher put out the word that she would not be available.”

Two years ago the Guardian reported that the story about Thatcher "snubbing" Palin was false.

Margaret Thatcher In 1987

"Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay. And children who need encouragement—and children do so much need encouragement—so many children—they are being taught that our society offers them no future. All of those children are being cheated of a sound start in life—yes cheated. Of course—in the country as a whole—there are plenty of excellent teachers and successful schools. And in every good school, and every good teacher, is a reminder of what too many young people are denied. I believe that government must take the primary responsibility for setting standards for the education of our children." - Margaret Thatcher, speaking at the Conservative Party Conference on October 9th, 1987.  Section 28 was approved as part of the Local Government Act on December 8th, 1987 and went into effect on May 24th, 1988.  It was repealed in Scotland on June 21st, 2000 and by the House Of Commons on November 18th, 2003.

"Margaret Thatcher Is Dead" Street Parties Take Place Across The UK

Many more photos here.

UPDATE: The Guardian has more.

Several hundred people gathered in south London on Monday evening to celebrate Margaret Thatcher's death with cans of beer, pints of milk and an impromptu street disco playing the soundtrack to her years in power. Young and old descended on Brixton, a suburb which weathered two outbreaks of rioting during the Thatcher years. Many expressed jubilation that the leader they loved to hate was no more; others spoke of frustration that her legacy lived on. To cheers of "Maggie Maggie Maggie, dead dead dead," posters of Thatcher were held aloft as reggae basslines pounded.

From Reuters:

"Thatcher herself, she represents so much of what people hate about what has happened to Britain in the last 20, 30 years," said 40-year-old graphic designer Ben Windsor, standing next to a man holding a poster with a crude Thatcher cartoon and the words 'rejoice rejoice'. As policeman watched on, others arrived clutching cans of lager and bottles of wine and shouting 'she's dead!' By early evening, a quickly rising 199,000 people had "liked" the isthatcherdeadyet.co.uk website, which had been updated with a large block-capital "Yes." The site encouraged visitors to party and provided a soundtrack.

Authorities in Glasgow are warning people to stay away from such parties.

Glasgow City Council had urged anyone planning to celebrate the former Prime Minister's death to "stay away" from the area. One group on Facebook, Thatcher's Deed - Party in George Square - Tonight!, had more than 1000 followers saying they would be marking her passing in the civic space, with a further 6500 people invited. A spokesman for Police Scotland said: "We're aware of the reports of a gathering in George Square and will police appropriately." Glasgow City Council issued a statement urging revellers to "stay away".

There will be no "moment of silence" at the Manchester United soccer game.

With the Premier League allowing individual clubs to decide whether to hold a tribute to the former Prime Minister, United have chosen not to ask supporters at Old Trafford to pay respects through a minute’s silence. Although the club have not given a reason for the decision, the risk of the silence being interrupted by supporters is likely to have been central to the move, as is a determination to separate sport from politics. Plans by Mrs Thatcher to implement an ID card system for football supporters in the late-1980s proved hugely divisive and controversial, leading to a groundswell of animosity towards the former Conservative party leader.

A Facebook campaign has been launched to make "Ding, Dong, The Witch Is Dead" this week's #1 single in Britain by downloading the single from iTunes.

Hashtag Cher-tastrophe

Dan Savage On Margaret Thatcher

"I was living in London—waiting tables, seeing plays, stealing silver, pining after British boys—when Section 28 was being debated. The law prompted Ian McKellen to come out of the closet and it prompted some righteous lesbian parents to tag Thatcher billboard with "Lesbians Mums Aren't Pretending." Coming at the height of the AIDS epidemic, Section 28 instilled panic. It felt like this law might the first of many anti-gay laws to come. Instead Section 28 was the beginning of the end for political homophobia in the UK. Because McKellen wasn't the only gay person to come out in protest. And you know what happens when gay people come out. So thanks for that, Maggie." - Dan Savage, writing for Slog.

Log Cabin On Margaret Thatcher

"Log Cabin Republicans mourns the loss of Margaret Thatcher, a conservative heroine and a maverick with the ability to convey conservative principles in a way few others could. In a gesture similar to her contemporary Ronald Reagan's opposition to the Briggs Initiative (which inspired the founding of Log Cabin Republicans), it was Thatcher's brave move to buck her colleagues and vote to decriminalize homosexuality in the 1960's that paved the way for modern conservatives such as Prime Minister David Cameron to make the conservative case for marriage equality today. Our prayers go out to the Iron Lady, her family, and the people of the United Kingdom who have lost an unparalleled and irreplaceable leader." - Log Cabin Republicans head Gregory Angelo, via press release.

NOTE: The bill to decriminalize male homosexuality in Britain passed in the House Of Commons on July 5th, 1966 by a vote of 244-100. (Female homosexuality had never been outlawed.)  Thatcher was one of the handful of Tory MPs who voted "aye."

Obama On Death Of Margaret Thatcher: "America Has Lost A True Friend"

President Obama has released a statement on the death of Margaret Thatcher.

With the passing of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, the world has lost one of the great champions of freedom and liberty, and America has lost a true friend. As a grocer’s daughter who rose to become Britain’s first female prime minister, she stands as an example to our daughters that there is no glass ceiling that can’t be shattered. As prime minister, she helped restore the confidence and pride that has always been the hallmark of Britain at its best. And as an unapologetic supporter of our transatlantic alliance, she knew that with strength and resolve we could win the Cold War and extend freedom’s promise.

Here in America, many of us will never forget her standing shoulder to shoulder with President Reagan, reminding the world that we are not simply carried along by the currents of history—we can shape them with moral conviction, unyielding courage and iron will. Michelle and I send our thoughts to the Thatcher family and all the British people as we carry on the work to which she dedicated her life—free peoples standing together, determined to write our own destiny.