petition has been launched calling for a public memorial in memory of gay activist Mark Ashton to be erected in his hometown of Portrush, Co Antrim.
Ashton was a tireless activist, and co-founder of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM), which formed the basis for the film, Pride.A volunteer with the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, Mark then founded LGSM alongside Mike Jackson, collecting donations for the striking miners during the 1984 Pride march in London.
It resulted in the miners showing their own solidarity in turn, and attending a gay Pride march.Mark died too soon, at the age of 26 in 1987 after being diagnosed with AIDS.