The Deputy Minister for Social Partnership Hannah Blythyn has highlighted the Welsh Government’s record in advancing LGBTQ+ rights in Cymru and has outlined a package of measures to help make Cymru "the most LGBTQ+ friendly nation in Europe".
At the beginning of the year, the Welsh Government established the 'Independent Expert Panel' to help set up the next steps for advancing LGBTQ+ equality.
In March, the panel presented their report which included 61 recommendations under six main themes: Human Rights and Recognition; Safety; Home and Communities; Health and Social Care; Education; and the Workplace.
The plan will set out the concrete steps that the Welsh Government will take to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ people.
The plan will go out for consultation at the end of July, but a few "keys points" have been released:
The Welsh Government will formally establish a LGBTQ+ Expert Panel to help put the plan into action and to hold the Government to account on progress.
The Welsh Government will work to secure the devolution of as many aspects as possible of the Gender Recognition Act. It is also commissioning legal advice on all available powers to ban Conversion Therapy in Cymru regardless of UK Government delays.
The Welsh Government will seek to appoint a national Pride Coordinator to support all work in the area— the details of which will be scoped in the coming months.
The action plan will have an "unprecedented focus on intersectionality" and will align with the Welsh Government's work to advance human rights including the strategic equality plan, the Gender Equality Plan, the Framework for Action on Disability and of course our pioneering Race Equality Action Plan.
Blythyn said: “This Pride Month I want to take the opportunity to reaffirm the commitment and determination of this Welsh Government to advancing LGBTQ+ equality in Wales.
"Our record of support for the LGBTQ+ community here in Wales is one to be proud of – from pushing forward with curriculum reform that embeds LGBTQ+ education, to establishing a ground-breaking gender identity service and becoming the first nation in the UK to offer PReP free in the NHS
"During Covid-19 we set up a bespoke LGBTQ+ venue grant and just this month and our First Minister donated blood side by side with gay activists who until this point had been prohibited from doing so.
"Progress is never inevitable, that’s why there is so much more to do.”