'Geoff was a warrior for all subjugated people' – tributes to Shropshire LGBT campaigner who was on first ever London Pride March

Geoff Hardy, from Shrewsbury, entered into a civil partnership with his partner Peter Roscoe as soon as the law would allow – at 8am on December 21, 2005.

That day of celebration came after a life battling for equal rights, a battle Mr Hardy continued until his death on April 30 this year.

Shropshire's deputy coroner Heath Westerman ruled last week that Mr Hardy had taken his own life at the age of 73. That came after a battle with mental illness, brought on by complications from treatment for cancer.

Mr Hardy was well known and respected in Shropshire and further afield for his work to promote equality for LGBT rights – particularly through the popular Shropshire Rainbow Film Festival which he helped create in 2006.

He was also a founder member of the Natural Health Centre in Radbrook, and a keen cyclist.

Mr Hardy, who had been an English teacher at Charlton Boys School in London, also stood twice as the Green Party's General Election candidate in Shrewsbury – the first person to stand for the party in the town.

In a long history of fighting for equal rights Mr Hardy had been present on the very first Gay Pride march in London in 1972 – and many after.

He and Mr Roscoe met in London in 1978 and moved to Shrewsbury in 1984 – they were together for 44 years.

They were the first couple in the county to have a civil partnership, signed at Shrewsbury Register Office, and Mr Roscoe explained: "It was at 8am on December 21, 2005. That was significant because it was the first point exactly when the law allowed us to do it."

He added: "It was a tremendous day after many years of campaigning and ultimately it was the forerunner to then in 2013 equal marriage."

Mr Roscoe said his former partner was a confident man with a "very engaging personality," who had campaigned on a host of issues, from the repealing of Section 28, to lowering the age of consent for gay people.

At this year's Shropshire Rainbow Film Festival there was a specific tribute to Mr Hardy before the event's final film – Studio One Forever.

Mr Roscoe spoke of the importance of the festival, and how it provided a platform for LGBT cinema, which otherwise did not exist in Shropshire.

He said: "It was good to have a regular cinema than be off in a little hall somewhere so it was nice to be able to work with the Old Market Hall in Shrewsbury – a relationship which continues today.

"And it was good to be able to bring LGBT films to people's attention because in the past films with gay characters – they had to be 'mad, bad, or dead'."

After Mr Hardy's death earlier this year Peter Gilbert, from Shrewsbury Rainbows, paid tribute, describing him as "a warrior for all subjugated people".

He said: "Geoff used all means to progress public understanding. He and Peter were interviewed on local radio and in the press when LGB issues were in the news, they challenged the RC bishop of Shrewsbury after a pernicious anti-gay Easter sermon, they visited local schools at the invitation of the headteacher to talk about issues of inclusivity and difference.

"Geoff was acutely aware how difficult a road it had been to attain relative equality, and how easily it could backtrack. He kept quantities of artefacts from the struggle, creating a personal historical record of campaigning posters, T-shirts, newspapers, books that has been displayed in Shrewsbury's museum, in The Hive and theatre.

"Geoff was a warrior for all subjugated people and actively supported causes for the downtrodden, but perhaps his greatest efforts were made in support of LGBT equality and he attended the very first Pride event in London more than fifty years ago – "Gay people are revolting!" he'd love to say with a smirk. When the landlady in a Shrewsbury pub refused to serve him with the words "I don't serve people like you" his rejoinder was "That's fine, because I want a pint not a person like me!"