Pride was born out of the need and the will to protest, to fight for equal rights, to be seen, to be ourselves, to be respected, to stand together as a community and to demand an end to discrimination. There is still more to do, and so we have a responsibility to redouble our commitment to continue to change history for the better, here and abroad, and to create a future where we recognise and realise Wales as the most LGBTQ+ friendly nation in Europe. 

As a Government, we stand with our LGBTQ+ communities. That's why LGBTQ+ rights are embedded in our programme for government, are a key component of the co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru, and why we are developing our bold action plan. This plan strengthens protections for LGBTQ+ people, promotes equality for all, and helps co-ordinate actions across Government, communities and the country. 

Our aim is to publish the action plan this autumn, and we are making progress not just on the plan itself but, importantly, putting commitments into practice. We are fulfilling our commitments to support Pride organisations in Wales. Our support for Pride Cymru continues and, for the first time, we have provided funding to grass-roots Pride events across Wales. We have already given support to Swansea Pride and North Wales Pride, and discussions are under way with Pride in the Port in Newport.

We are enabling more inclusive education, with Welsh Government providing national guidance for schools by the end of this year to help them fully support transgender pupils. This is being done as part of the whole-school approach to relationships and sexuality education, and we want to make it clear that Welsh Government has not endorsed any third party guidance in this area. Recently, our support has enabled Stonewall Cymru and Peniarth to translate into Welsh two books on LGBTQ+ families. The books, distributed to primary schools, will ensure classrooms have access to inclusive literature reflecting the diversity of Wales.

Progress has also been made in sexual health through the HIV action plan for Wales, published for consultation last week. The plan aims to reach the target of zero new HIV transmissions by 2030, to tackle stigma and improve the quality of life of people living with HIV. 

Forty years ago, gay people were subject to hateful slurs and prejudiced attacks. Trans people today are being subjected to a similar barrage of hate-fuelled tirades. Extending rights for one group does not mean eroding rights from another. We do not believe improving rights for trans women will damage rights for cisgender women and girls. Our trans communities are hurting, they're afraid, and they're experiencing harm. As a society, we can and must do better than this.

So, we continue to develop our gender service in Wales, which reports shorter waiting times for first assessment than comparable NHS gender services in England and is committed to reducing waiting times further. We are also committed to improving the pathway for transgender young people in Wales. The Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee, responsible for the service, will look at available evidence to further define the clinical service model for the future, and community voices will be front and centre to this work.

In line with our co-operation agreement commitment, we will also seek to devolve additional powers to improve lives and protect transgender people. Our commitment to support LGBTQ+ people seeking sanctuary in Wales and meet our international duty to show leadership on equality has never been more important. We have written to UK Government expressing our horror at their plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. This would be devastating for LGBTQ+ people, placing them at risk of ill treatment, discrimination, arbitrary arrest, and detention.

So, LGBTQ+ issues beyond our borders remain crucial to us and, whilst Wales's qualification for the World Cup is to be celebrated, the host country's appalling stance on LGBTQ+ rights cannot be overlooked. Many will not feel safe to travel, or will choose not to in support of Qatar's own LGBTQ+ communities, who cannot live openly and freely as themselves. We will look to use our platform to engage and influence on these important matters. 

We are committed to leaving no stone unturned when it comes to banning conversion practices for LGBTQ+ people. We will not abandon our trans communities, as UK Government has done, nor will we just talk the talk when it comes to action. Working with Plaid Cymru, we are undertaking complex work, including seeking legal advice to determine all the levers we have for a ban in Wales, developing our campaign to raise awareness of support services and the horrors of conversion practices, and our plans to establish a working group of experts are under way. 

During my recent visit to meet with the Digon group from Ysgol Plasmawr in Cardiff, I asked the students what message they would want me to share in a statement here to mark Pride Month. The message was clear: 'I don't just want to be tolerated, I want to be celebrated.' This Pride Month, and every month, the greatest tribute we can pay to the pioneers that paved the way is to continue to speak up, stand up and play our own part in achieving a fairer future where we feel safe, are supported, with our rights secured, and celebrated.