7. Will the Minister provide an update on the LGBTQ+ action plan for Wales? OQ58821

As a Government, we stand with our LGBTQ+ communities. That's why LGBTQ+ rights are embedded in our programme for government, and why we are developing our bold LGBTQ+ action plan. After reviewing more than 1,300 consultation responses, we aim to publish the revised action plan in February 2023.

Thank you, Minister, for your update. I recently met with Ollie Mallin, who represents Carers Trust Wales on our Welsh Youth Parliament. Ollie is also a constituent of mine and has been an advocate of LGBTQ+ plus issues for young people. Ollie has spoken candidly about homophobia faced by young people in schools, and the culture that, sadly, is still so present, which can start off with negative comments and connotations of gay stereotypes, but as we know, it perpetuates prejudice and discrimination for LGBTQ+ plus people across all sections of our society.

I fully support your work on the LGBTQ+ action plan. I know that Welsh Government wants Wales to be a nation where everyone feels safe to be themselves, to be open about their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics at home, leisure, work or school without feeling threatened. It really is going to take a proactive approach, reflection and consultation, especially in an environment like schools, to ensure that the things young people are seeing—that they're actually seeing these positive changes. This is ultimately about making schools safe for an LGBTQ+ pupil to not have to worry about this prejudice, simply because of who they are. So, Minister, on this point, what discussions are you having with the Minister for Education and Welsh Language to ensure that schools are responding to the action plan? Diolch.

I thank Sarah Murphy for raising this, and also for your support for the LGBTQ+ action plan. As you said, it's an incredibly important piece of work that we're doing and, obviously, it's not just about having that plan, it's the difference it actually makes in practice. And can I also pass on my thanks and recognition to Ollie for speaking so candidly about this and sharing the experiences of young people, which, sadly, is still happening, not just in schools but in different settings across Wales? It makes me particularly sad, because I was bullied at school because—I think I've said in here before—other children saw something in me that I hadn't recognised myself.

You talk about those negative connotations and slurs, and, if you remember that old saying, 'Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me', well, that's definitely not true—names do hurt. One of the things that sticks in my mind, and I've actually shared it with some of my colleagues, is that they called me 'Lesley'—I think they meant 'Lesley the lesbian'. So, as well as being incredibly cruel, bullies are also very unimaginative as well. But, they say the personal is the political, so this LGBTQ+ action plan is really, really important to me on that level as well, because I want to see this change for generations that are in school now and generations to come, and I think the work that Ollie's doing is really important. I'd be very happy to meet Ollie along with the Member. 

But, on the action plan itself, there are a series of actions in there, and I'm looking very closely with the Minister for education about how we not only support young people in schools, but support their educators and support the teachers to be able to handle and address these things with care and with confidence as well, because I think there is still that hangover, that legacy of section 28, where people are still, unfortunately, nervous to tackle these issues. So, we need to offer support for the teachers and the teaching staff as well as for the learners.

Minister, one of the actions in the plan is to explore ways that unnecessary personal identification, such as name, age, and gender markers can be removed from the documentation, particularly in recruitment practices. This could also prove helpful in reducing the risk for discrimination against someone from an ethnic minority background. To what extent have you succeeded in delivering on this action? Have public bodies, such as the NHS, now advanced this objective, and can you evidence any improvement at all?

Can I thank the Member for his contribution there? The point he refers to is one of the points that we consulted on as part of the draft action plan, and I don't think I'm jumping the gun by confirming that it will be there and expanded on in the action plan itself when it's published early next year. You raise a really valid point in terms of actually things that you can do to tackle that discrimination and to take away the risk of it as well. So, I'd be more than happy, once we're formalising the final action plan, to update the Member in more detail on the work that's happening across Government on the issues that he raises.