The title of the benefit is claimed by many to have originated as a headline in the British tabloid The Sun, but this remains unproven. The event was headlined by Bronski Beat and its lead singer, Jimmy Somerville. The largest single fundraising event that LGSM organised was the "Pits and Perverts" benefit concert, which was held in the Electric Ballroom in Camden Town, London on 10 December 1984.
In addition to raising approximately £22,500 for the families who were on strike, there were reciprocal visits. In November 1984, a group of lesbians broke away from LGSM to form a separate group, Lesbians Against Pit Closures, although some lesbians remained active in the LGSM campaign rather than joining the women-only group.
The London group was twinned with the Neath, Dulais and Swansea Valleys Miners Support Groups. The group grew rapidly and moved out of Gay's The Word to a larger venue: The Fallen Angel, a gay pub in Graham Street, Islington. The London LGSM group met and fundraised in numerous locations, including the Gay's the Word bookshop. Among these organisations, the LGSM was formed by Communist Party of Great Britain activist Mark Ashton, and his friends, after the two men collected donations for the miners at the 1984 Lesbian and Gay Pride march in London. Instead, support groups throughout the UK were encouraged to "twin" directly with the various mining communities in England, Scotland and Wales. During the strike, the Thatcher administration sequestered the funds of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), meaning that it was pointless for supporters of the strike to send donations to the national union.