Extract from Welsh Assembly statement on International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia - May 15

Wednesday, 16 May 2018 07:53

Caroline Jones AM: Thank you for your statement, leader of the house. Just over a week ago, I was proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with members of the LGBT community at Swansea Spring Pride. The group accompanying me had a wonderful day also. I'm proud to support people being who they want to be without fear of reprisals. Thursday is International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, and...Request free trial

Caroline Jones AM: Thank you for your statement, leader of the house. Just over a week ago, I was proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with members of the LGBT community at Swansea Spring Pride. The group accompanying me had a wonderful day also. I'm proud to support people being who they want to be without fear of reprisals. Thursday is International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, and will be marked and celebrated in 120 countries across the globe—a tremendous achievement and a sign of how far we have come. Only a few short decades ago, being gay was a crime in this country and, today, same-sex marriage is possible in most of the UK. So, we have made some progress but we have a lot more work to do.

When I got married six years ago, many of my friends were present from the LGBT community, and what a wonderful day we had with, indeed, Chris Needs and his husband, Gabe, giving me away; it absolutely made my day. Giving me away willingly, they tell me.

Same-sex relationships are still illegal in 72 countries and carry the death penalty in Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Thousands of people have been killed because of their gender diversity. But we are not living in these dark ages, people shouldn’t be persecuted for whom they choose to fall in love with, or because they were born into the wrong gender. So, it is up to each and every one of us to tackle unsavoury behaviour towards anyone, towards others when we witness it, and also to give confidence to those who experience bullying, whether it be direct or indirect in nature.

Leader of the house, what discussions have you had with other Members of your Government to improve knowledge of same-sex relationships to the wider community? What bullying and behavioural policies in schools and colleges—are they robust in covering this issue?

The National Assembly has been recognised by Stonewall as the leading employer in the UK for LGBT staff. So, leader of the house, will you commit to emulating this within Welsh Government and ensuring that all Welsh Government contractors and sub-contractors ensure every LGBT employee is accepted without exception?

I would like to thank you for all you are doing to tackle homophobia, transphobia and biphobia, and please be assured that you have support from across this Chamber. As Assembly Members, we all have a duty to support and be allies of our LGBT colleagues and constituents. Working together, we can make Wales the most LGBT friendly nation. Thank you.

(Leader of the House and Chief Whip) Julie James AM: Yes, I very much want to congratulate the Assembly Commission on its award as the Stonewall Employer of the Year, I think the exact title was, and very well deserved it was. What that award really shows is what a determined group of employees can actually do when they want to advance an agenda and make sure that everybody around them—all their colleagues and everybody else—are fully aware of all of the issues that present themselves. I think that that's actually a really excellent role model for how you can roll it out. And we are doing very similar things; we work very closely with the Police and Crime Commissioners, and with all other agencies, for example, to make sure that we have a holistic approach to capturing hate crime. It's very much part of our community cohesion work as well.

I'll just reiterate, Deputy Presiding Officer, that anyone affected by hate crime should come forward, report and seek support by contacting the local police on 101, or 999 if it's an emergency. And I repeat that for this reason, because, even when it doesn't lead to an arrest or a prosecution, the information is always useful to the multi-agency teams that work in this area. It's only by raising the profile of these terrible hate crimes that we raise the profile of the issue generally in wider society. So, as I said, we have a multi-pronged approach. We have a very comprehensive approach in our education system. We have a very good multi-agency approach to the darker end of it, if you like. We have a curriculum response that I won't pre-announce on behalf of my colleague who's going to have a statement on it next week, tempting though it is to do that. We are addressing a number of housing issues, and we've got some issue there with some of the funding that we give to Shelter Cymru to ensure their national advice and support workers are suitably trained in how to support and mediate with those impacted by homelessness from the LGBTQ+ communities, because they often have specific requirements that need to be covered off. And I've answered a number of questions on health already, Deputy Presiding Officer.

But, really, what this statement is about is to celebrate our communities here in Wales, to celebrate the contribution that all of our communities make here in Wales, and to signal our intention to the world that we are not happy that those communities are treated differentially elsewhere.