Mark Ashton
| Mark Ashton | |
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Mark Ashton in 1986
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| Born | Mark Christian Ashton 19 May 1960 Oldham, Lancashire, England |
| Died | 11 February 1987 (aged 26) Southwark, London |
| Alma mater | Northern Ireland Hotel and Catering College |
| Occupation | Gay rights activist |
| Political party | Communist Party of Great Britain |
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Mark Christian Ashton (19 May 1960 – 11 February 1987) was a gay rights activist, communist and member of the Communist Party of Great Britain.
Ashton was born in Oldham, and later moved to Portrush, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. He studied at the former Northern Ireland Hotel and Catering College in Portrush, before moving to London in 1978. Richard Coles wrote about this period: "Mark also worked for a while as a barman at the Conservative Club in King’s Cross, or, rather, as a barmaid, in drag, with a blonde beehive wig. I was never sure if the patrons worked out that he was really a man".
In 1982 he spent three months in Bangladesh visiting his parents, where his father was working for the textile machinery industry. The experience of his sojourn had a profound effect on him. Upon his return, he volunteered with the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, supported the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and joined the Young Communist League. In 1983 he featured in the Lesbian and Gay Youth Video Project film Framed Youth: The Revenge of the Teenage Perverts, an early documentary that won the Grierson Award 1984 for Best Documentary.
He formed, with his friend Mike Jackson, the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) support group after the two men collected donations for the miners on strike at the 1984 Lesbian and Gay Pride march in London.
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