Llywydd, it’s a pleasure to respond to this afternoon’s debate, having listened to the contributions from all across the Chamber. Today’s debate on LGBT History Month is not the first time we’ve had to discuss LGBT equality in the Senedd, but it is very significant that, for the first time in our history, the debate has been led by openly lesbian and gay Assembly Members: Hannah Blythyn, Adam Price and, shortly, Jeremy Miles. I am grateful to them all, and Suzy Davies, indeed, for bringing the motion forward today, and also for many other Members’ contributions, too. We’ve heard personal stories, we’ve heard about the ongoing work towards LGBT equality and we’ve heard about, still, what needs to be done.

Those who are not LGBT cannot know the full extent of the pressures that our friends are facing in discovering, accepting and finding the freedom to be who they are, but all of us, I hope, can be good allies in empathising with the experience and fear of not being accepted or, worse, facing direct discrimination. Friends, the Welsh Government stands committed to enhancing the lives and opportunities of lesbian, gay, bi and trans people across Wales and, through our equality and inclusion grant, we have supported projects to challenge homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools. We work across agencies on increasing the reporting of anti-LGBT hate incidents, and we’ve supported the setting up of groups like Trans*form Cymru for young trans people.

In the last Assembly, my predecessor Lesley Griffiths brought forward a transgender action plan. A priority within the plan is the implementation of the NHS Wales transgender strategy for Wales, which will include a care pathway and guidance for healthcare practitioners to support the pathway; £0.5 million has been allocated in 2017-18 to improve gender identity services in Wales.

The Welsh Government’s decision in 2011 to seek additional and specific public sector equality duties in Wales has also brought an important cultural shift in the way our public bodies serve the needs of people across all protected characteristics.

Llywydd, consequently, there has been a demonstrable improvement in how organisations seek to support the LGBT people, both in service delivery and as employers. Just two weeks ago—congratulations to this Assembly on receiving an award for being the top public sector employer and fifth best employer in Britain for LGBT people. Despite such success, there’s much more to do, and we’ve heard that from Members today. Members here are making sure that action is firmly on the agenda. I know that Jeremy has raised trans healthcare with the Cabinet Secretary for health, along with Hannah, who has met the Cabinet Secretary for Education to discuss LGBT issues in our schools, and sex education, relationship education, which Julie Morgan talked about.

We cannot take progress for granted, however. In countries around the globe there are people committed to rolling back LGBT rights. We are committed to advancing them, just as we did in 2002, when this Welsh Assembly Government released guidance to schools that effectively ended the homophobic section 28, a year before its full repeal in Westminster. I mentioned section 28 because I think it still hits at the heart of this debate, brought up by Members in this Chamber. In practice, what it meant was that gay pupils were never told, ‘It’s okay to be who you are.’ They never learned about different ideas and identities. They were never told or had role models such as Gareth Thomas, Nigel Owens, Jeremy Miles, Hannah Blythyn or, indeed, Adam Price. Instead, they learned to be isolated, to be hidden, to be silent. A generation of young LGBT people were opened up to bullying sanctioned by the state. The generation that came before them were told that being LGBT was illegal and wrong. The impact of that history is still felt today. Although we may now live in a country that celebrates equal rights, same-sex marriage and protection from discrimination, we must not forget the thousands of lives hidden and lost to the past that treated lesbian, gay, bi and trans people as less than equal. This LGBT History Month, we remember their history, Llywydd, and we celebrate the love and humanity that we all share here today. Diolch.