Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council has opened up the floor for the public to share their views on a proposed plaque commemorating queer activist Mark Ashton in Portrush Town Hall. The council has released a Draft Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) relating to this proposal and is interested in hearing the public’s opinion on “the equality and good relations impact” identified in the draft. 

Though he was born in Oldham, England, Ashton was raised in Portrush, a seaside town in County Antrim. The town of Coleraine neighbours Portrush, and the university there brought a large influx of students to the area.

With the youth came a growing progressive ideology. There was a branch of the Sexual Liberation movement housed in Coleraine, and the first conference for sexual freedom in Ireland took place there. 

When Ashton was 18, he moved to London, which offered a refuge from the immediate impacts of both the Troubles and homophobic policies, as homosexuality was largely decriminalised in England at this point. 

In London, Ashton would frequently dress in drag, and his friend Richard Coles noted that he was “unafraid of a fight,” which would ultimately play a large role in his political activism. There, he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain and got involved in a series of political campaigns. 

In a 1983 Documentary by the Lesbian and Gay Youth Video Project, Ashton said, “I started to come out, and I had to question the morals and the ideas that society had put there for me to follow. What they wanted me to be was a little straight boy, getting married, settling down, having kids…If that’s what they say about sexuality, then what about the rest of life? And I started to see that basically the whole country is not geared for the people. It’s geared for the few people who’re making money out of it.”

He founded the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) movement in 1984 after conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s government planned to shut down 20 coal mines, which would lead to an estimated 20,000 lost jobs. In response, almost 200,000 miners went on strike. During London’s 1984 Pride march, Ashton collected money to support the striking miners, and was eventually inspired to start the LGSM with his friend Mike Jackson. They would continue to collect donations for the miners, though they were frequently harassed and threatened by British police for doing so, and organised fundraisers like the ‘Pits and Perverts’ concert, which raised almost £20,000. By 1985, there were 11 LGSM chapters across the UK. 

The alliance went both ways, as the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) joined London’s 1985 Pride march and lobbied for the adoption of policies that supported LGBTQ+ rights. The mineworkers’ strike ultimately ended a year after it began with the closure of the mines, but the unlikely friendship between the two groups was cemented.  

In 1987, Ashton ultimately passed away from AIDS-related pneumonia at only 26 years old. However, after his death, his legacy continued — the Mark Ashton Trust was started to support those with HIV, and his life largely inspired the 2014 film Pride. He is also included on the AIDS Memorial Quilt with red stilettos and a green shamrock, and Coles honoured him with the song ‘For a Friend.’

In 2021, a petition to honour Ashton with a public memorial in Portrush managed to collect over 150,000 signatures. The plaque now proposed by the council would commemorate Mark Ashton and his legacy at a “suitable location within Portrush Town Hall,” according to a statement from the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council. 

The statement also claimed that they were “particularly interested” in hearing views that would relate to equality and good relations impacts of the Draft EQIA, insight on impacts that weren’t identified in the draft, relevant personal experience, adverse impacts, and suggestions that could strengthen the “positive contribution of the proposal.” 

The consultation period will conclude in January 2027, and those who would like to share their views can do so here. The council’s statement said they will also accept responses submitted to their email, [email protected].

If successful, the Antrim plaque will join those remembering Mark Ashton in London and Wales, alongside a remembrance garden built for him in Paris.