Mark Ashton, born on this day in 1960, was a British communist, gay rights activist, and co-founder of the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) group. He passed away from an AIDS-related illness at the age of 26.

Ashton was born on May 19th, 1960 and grew up in Portrush, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. In 1982, he began volunteering with the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, supported the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and joined the Young Communist League, later serving as its general secretary.

In 1984, with his friend Mike Jackson, Ashton co-founded the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) support group after the two men collected donations for striking miners at the London Lesbian and Gay Pride march that year.

Diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, Ashton was admitted to Guy's Hospital on January 30th, 1987 and died 12 days later of Pneumocystis pneumonia. His death prompted a significant response from the gay community, in both writing and attendance of his funeral at Lambeth Cemetery.

The LGSM's activities were dramatized in the 2014 film "Pride", however the film completely omitted Ashton's participation in the Communist Party.

"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."

- Mark Ashton