The film's protagonist is a closeted young man named Joe, who takes the train into London for his birthday, which happens to coincide with Gay Pride. There, he meets activist Mark Ashton and his group of friends, who are marching in the parade not only on behalf of gay rights, but also on behalf of economic equality and the miners' strike that is fighting to keep the mines open under Margaret Thatcher. Seeing a parallel between police mistreatment of the miners and police mistreatment of the gay community, Mark believes that the gay movement might benefit from establishing solidarity with the mining community.
In spite of his friends' skepticism—many of them were most brutally bullied in their working-class hometowns—Mark starts the LGSM organization, which stands for Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, and sets to work raising money to support the miners while they are not working. The group's first attempts to donate the money to the union get denied on account of their status as homosexuals, but when they cold-call a Welsh mining village, a member of the committee there accepts the funds.
One member of the Welsh town, a straight man named Dai, comes to London to thank the group for their help and they invite him to a fundraiser at a gay bar, where he makes a speech showing his appreciation. He, in turn, invites them to the Welsh town to meet the rest of the community.
When the group first arrives in the town, there are many open-minded community members, but others remain closed-minded and bigoted in their views. With some time and understanding, however, the LGSM wins more and more support from the mining community.
Ultimately, the strike must come to an end, and members of the community make it clear that they no longer want the help of the LGSM. This breaks up the group to some extent. Gethin, one of the members of the LGSM, gets attacked in a hate crime while collecting money; Jonathan, his partner, reveals himself to be one of the first people who was diagnosed with HIV; Joe comes out to his family, who hold bigoted beliefs; and Mark feels completely dispirited by their failure to help the town more substantively.
The film ends with the members of the LGSM coming back together for Pride. At first, they are annoyed to learn that they cannot tout any political slogans while marching in the parade, but they are soon joined by buses and buses filled with miners who have come to march in solidarity with the group. They all march at the front of the parade.
