Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:57 pm on 29 June 2021.
As a person of a certain age, I remember the way in which Peter Tatchell was hounded by the press when he stood in Bermondsey 40 years ago, just because of his sexual preferences, and I hope we have come a long way since then, but, clearly, there's much more work to do. I'm sure people will be delighted that the Welsh Government is seeking powers to ban conversion therapy in Wales, because that is one of the most appalling things—to think that people could be forced to change their views and their sexual preferences.
I'm delighted that, in my constituency, an increasing number of young people are feeling confident enough to express their sexuality as not being heterosexual and wanting to link up with other people to work on good practice in our secondary schools. I was particularly struck by a young man aged 14 who approached me, asking for advice on how to get involved in politics and how to engage with other schools on good practice around LGBT groups in school. So, that's wonderful, and I'm sure the new relationship and sexuality education will play a really important part in ensuring all schools are places where children are not discriminated against because their parents do not fit the stereotype Jack and Jill chocolate-box image of a family.
I particularly welcome your grass-roots approach to this Wales-wide Pride fund, because some people are concerned that the Pride celebrations have become far too much of a commercial, corporate-backed event rather than an attempt to ensure that all communities throughout Wales are ones where people of LGBTQI preferences can feel as comfortable as anybody else as being part of their community. So, I'd be grateful for a little bit more information about how that's going to work, to ensure that it reaches all parts of Wales.