Solidarity Apothecary has sent us a text remembering Gilly which we believe you all should read. Remember that the anonymous faces of the Animal Liberation Front (and many other movements) do have a name attached to them, which normally is only shared once they’ve passed away. And remember that in a hyper masculine society, we tend to understand the ALF as a men run concept, when it many cases it is quite the opposite.
Today (January 11) is the 7th anniversary of Gilly’s death
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For folks who didn’t know her, she was an absolute fierce anarchist and animal liberationist. Obviously it’s impossible to quantify as the animal liberation front is an anonymous, underground movement – but my bets are that she was one of the most active ALF organisers in history. Through the 80s and 90s and all the years before she became unwell, she would raid labs, farms and all sites of animal abuse freeing countless animals.
She actively sabotaged the badger cull and coordinated resistance to it in the original Krebs trials – so much so that it had a 95% failure rate.
She was an active hunt sab, involved in many grassroots campaigns, as well as prisoner support. You can see copies of the South East Liberator mag on the Talon Conspiracy archiving project website, which details some of the things she did – only to be shared after her death.
She was a surrogate mum to me and taught me more about anarchism than any book ever could. She would text me every single time I had a prison visit without fail for years on end and supported me through my sentence. She’d been inside and knew what it was like. She was spiky and anti-social to many, but also caring, kind and loyal to those close to her. Men get celebrated as ALF heroes, while women like Gilly get invisibilised, especially if they develop chronic illnesses.
I’ll never forget her and our movements shouldn’t either. Please remember Gilly today. Feel free to share this post.
Rest in power sweet Gilly, I miss you.