LGBTQ+ History Month: Have attitudes really changed?

Drag Queen Aida H Dee reads stories to children

Rainbow flags, changing your profile picture and going to Pride - are these enough to keep LGBTQ+ people safe?

February is LGBTQ+ History Month - the same month three people were convicted of the homophobic murder of Dr Gary Jenkins in Bute Park, Cardiff.

With the road on the other side of the park covered in flags, so close to where he was killed, the city council said it was committed to inclusivity.

But Drag Queen Aida H Dee said gestures "do not go far enough".

The results of the most recent census showed in 2019, 94.4% of people in Wales aged 16 and over identified as heterosexual/straight.

This is compared to 1.9% of people identify as gay/lesbian, 1% as bisexual and 1% as other.

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However, 1.7% of people did not know, answer or respond to the question so the number of LGBTQ+ people could be higher.

'People are going to be shocked how far we have come'

Aida H Dee goes around the UK reading to children in drag and says children are the most accepting

Aida H Dee - Sab Samuels when out of drag - is a drag queen based in Cardiff who reads to children around the UK.

Drag Queen Story Hour is the first of its kind and is a step towards "making children know they are accepted", Aida said.

"95% of people who I get to interact with me absolutely love me. I have got parents who have cried, who have come up to me and shook my hand.

"I do however get a lot of hate online. That 5% of people ruin it for everyone else."

Reading sessions have even had to be cancelled due to hate comments.

Aida H Dee (far right) says society had progressed so much in the past 50 years and is excited to see it go further

"When I heard about what happened in Bute Park it struck a note with me in the same way that it struck a note with me when I read about the Pulse shooting in Orlando because I didn't get through the article," Aida said.

"I can't imagine how my mum would feel if that was me and I can't imagine how his mum is probably feeling right now as well. We need to do better.

"We've done great so far, we have now got some beautiful rainbows on a road, but iconography and gestures don't save lives as much as doing something physically about it.

"I can imagine in 200 years' time, there will be articles and books and academic papers written on how fast as a human race we are progressing in the last 50 years and I'm really excited, but we still have so far to go."

Dr Jenkins was murdered in a homophobic attack on 20 July 2021.

After three people - including a girl who was 16 at the time of the attack - were convicted, LGBTQ+ community members spoke out about the language used by a defence barrister in the case, accusing him of victim blaming Dr Jenkins.

Hundreds of people joined a vigil in February to remember the doctor.

'We are becoming less progressive'

Dr Ashley Morgan says reported and unreported attacks prove there is a long way to go to inclusivity

Dr Ashley Morgan, a sociologist at Cardiff Metropolitan University, said gestures do very little and thinks society is "becoming less inclusive now".

"Although there has been a lot of progress made, particularly in the 1960s in terms of the law, I think culturally people have struggled," she said.

She said there was culture, particularly in Wales, of the norm being "white, working class, male, able-bodied and straight" so when something goes against that, it can be a struggle for people to accept.

She said gestures such as going to Pride events and displaying flags are great but she worries attempts to make things more inclusive will become "just a tick box exercise".

"That is a huge problem. It's easy to say we support this, but what are you doing to facilitate change."

'We have a long way to go'

Hannah Blythyn says gestures are important but she knows there is still a long way to go

The Welsh government has an LGBTQ+ action plan in place in a bid to make Wales "the most LGBTQ+ friendly nation" in Europe.

Hannah Blythyn is the deputy minister for social partnership and also a gay woman.

She helped develop the plan and supports tokens of support but said she knows there is still a long way to go.

"In my lifetime alone so much has changed," she said.

"We couldn't be talked about in classrooms, be refused service, we could be denied to right to fight for our country and marry the person we love.

"We have come a long way but in the cruellest possible way recently we have been reminded by how far we have to go."

She said things such as flags in Cardiff for LGBTQ+ History Month were "gestures of an inclusive city", but people had to realise it was "not the solution to all the struggles that we still face, but it is part of actually celebrating who we are".

She added in the wake of Dr Jenkins' murder, it was more important than ever to "not just have a plan but it's actually putting those actions and making them a reality".

She said she was working with police and councils to help people feel safe, as well as education in schools.

Cardiff council said the artwork was to celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month and show that the city "stands with and remembers the history, lives and experiences of the LGBTQ+ community" but acknowledged it was "of course, not the only thing that we do."

The council said it also worked with schools, youth services and the police to "empower children and young people to become ethical, informed citizens through a number of schemes and initiatives".

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