The priest who died of Aids.. & the tough pit village that cared so much
LOCALS OVERCAME
As a male voice choir filled the vestry there was sadness for those who had died.
But many also held back tears for the slightly-built priest who had organised the memorial – a man of God who was dying of AIDS.
In the 1990s a tough mining town in South Yorkshire might have been the last place to embrace a homosexual priest with a feared and little-understood disease then known as the “gay plague”.
The Rev Simon Bailey could have faced a backlash of hostility.
But, in the midst of hardship and colliery closures, the people of Dinnington not only took Simon to their hearts but protected and cared for him in his darkest days.
Set against a backdrop of grim TV warnings featuring tombstones, and emerging homophobia over the AIDS epidemic, Simon’s poignant story gives a snapshot of history.
As his condition gradually worsened he bravely carried on with sermons, funerals and christenings as well as lighter tasks such as jumble sales and parish outings.
INCREDIBLE
In return his faithful flock came together to work in shifts looking after him, bathing him, washing his hair and helping with his medicines.
Simon made worldwide news as the first British Anglican priest with AIDS to remain in his job, giving Holy Communion to parishioners.
Now a book written 20 years ago by his sister Rosemary is being re-released to coincide with the 50th anniversary this month of the UK Sexual Offences Act that partly decriminalised homosexuality.
Rosemary, 63, said: “People in Dinnington didn’t know a lot about AIDS then but despite everything all they cared about was that Simon was a friend who was dying.
“How they came together to look after him was incredible. They were real salt of the earth, the type who looked after their own.
“They had their own troubles after the closure of their pit in 1991. Perhaps it made them more sympathetic to Simon’s plight.”
Rosemary’s book Scarlet Ribbons is a moving account of her brother’s 10-year struggle after his diagnosis as HIV positive aged 30 in 1985.
It was just a month before Simon, originally from Halifax, arrived at St Leonard’s Church in Dinnington from a post in Sheffield.
For six years Simon, who had hidden his sexuality from his family and the church, kept his diagnosis secret. He immersed himself in the parish, making friends with men who lost their jobs despite the miners’ strike, poor families and the elderly facing up to death themselves.
But in 1991, the symptoms of AIDS began and he wrote in his journal: “I don’t understand why I’m not much more frightened. Have I faced the devil and seen there is nothing to fear?” By May 1992 Simon was diagnosed with fullblown AIDS. A new curate broke the news to a group including the church’s lay reader, verger and choristers. Rather than At christening being shocked or frightened, they rallied round. But parishioner Sam Robinson said the town would never have welcomed him if it had known the truth in advance.
Sam once said in an interview: “I’ve said before, Simon would never have been in Dinnington had he said he was gay, had he said. ‘I’m gay and HIV ’. Phew, they wouldn’t have stopped talking for six months.”
Simon was taking part in a drug trial and his consultant at Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Dr George Kinghorn, had worries about how locals would react. Dr