LGBTQ Action Plan

Transcription

Easy ReadLGBTQ action planOur plan to create a better Wales forLGBTQ peopleWe want to know what you thinkThis document was written by Welsh Government. It is aneasy read version of ‘LGBTQ Action Plan’.July 2021

How to use this documentThis is an easy read document. But you may stillneed support to read it. Ask someone you knowto help you.Words in bold blue writing may be hard tounderstand. You can check what the words inblue mean on page 26.Where the document says we, this means WelshGovernment. For more information contact:Website: gov.wales/lgbtq-action-planE-mail: LGBTQ ActionPlan@gov.walesThis document was made into easy read byEasy Read Wales using Photosymbols. To tell uswhat you think about this easy read version,click here.Page 2

ContentsIntroduction4Why is this action plan important?8Action plan10Actions for all parts of life10Actions for human rights13Actions to make sure LGBTQ people are safe14Actions for home and communities15Actions for sport and culture17Actions for faith groups19Actions for homelessness19Actions for asylum and refugee support20Actions for improving health21Actions for education23Actions for the workplace24Actions from Covid-1925Hard words26Page 3

IntroductionThis is our plan for what we will do to makeWales a better place for LGBTQ people.LGBTQ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queeror Questioning and others.This is a community of people who share experiencesbecause of who they are and who they love: Lesbians are women who are attracted to other women. Gay men are men attracted to other men. Bisexual people are people who are attracted to bothmen and women. Transgender people are people who are born as one sexbut are the other sex. For example, a person who lookslike a man on the outside may be a woman on the inside. Even though Queer has been used as a bad wordagainst LGBTQ people, some people have started touse it in a positive way for when they feel that words likestraight, gay and lesbian do not really describe them. Questioning is for people who are still figuring out whothey are and how they identify.Page 4

Everyone has the right to be safe.Everyone has the right to be themselves andnot experience discrimination.Discrimination is when you are treatedbadly or unfairly because of your sex,race, religion, disability or because ofwho you are and who you love.Equality and Inclusion are important issuesfor us.Equality means treating people fairlyand making sure they have the samechances in life.Inclusion means everyone can takepart, and everyone has a fair chance.Page 5

We want Wales to be the most friendlyLGBTQ nation in Europe.LGBTQ people in Wales often experiencediscrimination.We started an expert panel and asked themto write a report.The panel was made up of a group ofpeople and organisations working with theLGBTQ community.The report helped to find out what should beincluded in this action plan.Page 6

The aim of this action plan is to help makesure LGBTQ people are treated equally. Sothey can be safe to live and love as theywant.We want to know what you think about whatwe have written in this action plan. Pleaseread this document, and then answer thequestions in the response form.This section was written by:Mark Drakeford MSFirst MinisterJane Hutt MSMinister for Social JusticeHannah BlythynDeputy Minister for Social PartnershipPage 7

Why is this action plan important?We are committed to making sure everyonehas their human rights. This includes LGBTQ people.A survey of LGBTQ people was carried outby Stonewall Cymru. This is an organisationthat promotes the rights of LGBTQ people.Stonewall Cymru found out that mostLGBTQ people in Wales were worried abouttelling people they were part of the LGBTQ community.This is because they don’t want to betreated badly because of it.Nearly half of LGBTQ people in Wales haveexperienced bullying like name calling that ishurtful and makes life hard in the last year.Page 8

LGBTQ people are also more likely to: Have poor mental health Have poor healthcare Use too much alcohol or drugs, orsmokeLGBTQ people who also have otherprotected characteristics are more likely tobe at risk.Protected characteristics includes race,age, gender, religion, disability and sex.This action plan will help us create LGBTQ friendly policies.Policies are written documents that saythe rules about how we do things.Page 9

Action planThe action plan covers 7 different areas oflife. And has 1 section covering all parts oflife.Actions for all parts of lifeWe will strengthen equality and human rightsfor LGBTQ people.We will support the UK Government toprotect transgender and non-binary people.Non-binary is when you do not feel thatyou are simply male or female.Page 10

We will make sure that LGBTQ people areaccepted across Wales.We will make sure that everyone who worksin the public sector knows about LGBTQ needs.The public sector provides services tothe public. For example, education,social services, health and housing.We will help to challenge the way peoplejudge others. For example when someoneguesses someone else is female just becausethey have long hair.Page 11

We will make sure the needs of LGBTQ people are included in all our plans. We willmake sure we involve LGBTQ people asequal partners when we write plans andmake decisions.We will collect information to betterunderstand the discrimination experiencedby LGBTQ communities.We will keep the expert panel to help uscheck our plan, and make sure it works.Page 12

Actions for human rightsWe want LGBTQ people to have a full lifeand equal role in Welsh society.We want to make sure non-binary peopleare accepted and included in our policies.We want the UK government to let us makeour own decisions about the GenderRecognition Act, so that we can support ourtransgender community. This is a law thatmakes sure transgender and non-binarypeople can live a full life.We want to stop LGBTQ conversion therapy- when a therapist tries to stop or changesomeone who is LGBTQ Page 13

We want to stop asking people personalinformation that is not needed. For example,what their name, age and gender is onforms.We want to make sure LGBTQ . people knowtheir rights and have support to challengethese.Actions to make sure LGBTQ people are safeWe will ask the police to make sure they workclosely with people with protectedcharacteristics.We want the police and partners to makesure LGBTQ hate crime is reported.A hate crime is when somebody causesharm to another person because of theway they are.Page 14

We will work with companies and websites totackle hate crimes. For example, askingFacebook to remove hurtful comments, orasking newspapers to be careful how theyreport the news.We want to work closely with people withprotected characteristics to find out aboutissues they have with staff like policemen,doctors, nurses and the fire brigadeWe will focus on abuse in the LGBTQ community. We will try to find out whypeople are worried about reporting whenthey have been treated badly.Actions for home and communitiesWe will support LGBTQ groups andorganisations to provide services across thewhole of Wales.Page 15

We will also help more Welsh languageservices for LGBTQ people.We will think about how we can bettersupport and fund services for young LGBTQ people. So young LGBTQ people can getsupport outside of school as well as in school.We will use important days for LGBTQ people to raise awareness. For example,Pride events in June, LGBTQ history month inFebruary.We will sponsor Pride Cymru, so they can runPride events across Wales. And we will hire aWales Pride Coordinator. This is a personwhose job will be supporting and overseeingPride events in Wales.We want to provide support to help LGBTQ people become political leaders.Page 16

Actions for sport and cultureWe want to work with the LGBTQ community to help develop sport andculture and make it more inclusive to LGBTQ people.Culture includes things like music and art.We want to provide money to sport andculture organisations working with LGBTQ communities.We want more LGBTQ people to take partin sport and culture, including atmanagement level.We will make sure people know more aboutLGBTQ people in sport and culture.Page 17

We will celebrate LGBTQ communities inWales. And support museums to help collectinformation and objects from the LGBTQ communityWe will support Pride events and make surethe public sector works with Pride organisersto celebrate.We will work with Sport Wales and otherorganisations to look at how to make sportmore inclusive for transgender people.We will think about how to make sports andculture more inclusive.We want different organisations to worktogether to share how they can all work attheir best.Page 18

Actions for faith groupsWe will look at how we can support differentfaith groups to have open and friendlyspaces for LGBTQ people.Actions for homelessnessWe will make sure homelessness servicesprovide suitable services for LGBTQ people.We will learn from projects like the Ty Prideproject. This project supports young LGBTQ people and provides a safe home for themto live in. We will share what we learn with alllocal authorities in Wales.Page 19

Actions for asylum and refugee supportAsylum seekers are people who leavetheir country to escape danger. They askto live in another country.A refugee is someone who has beenforced to leave their country. This maybe because of war or they have hadtheir life threatenedWe will work with the UK Government to askfor information about LGBTQ asylum seekerswhen they ask to stay in the UK.We will make LGBTQ only homes availablein Wales so we can keep LGBTQ asylumseekers safe.We will work with LGBTQ asylum andrefugee support organisations to help usmake our policies better.We will make sure LGBTQ refugees andasylum seekers have access to mentalhealth support.Page 20

Actions for improving healthWe will work with LGBTQ people to tacklehealth issues such as sex and health, usingdrugs and alcohol and mental health.We will make sure maternity and fertilityservices are easy to use for LGBTQ people.There are services that help people to havechildren.We will train our NHS and social care staff tounderstand LGBTQ health issues.We will think about LGBTQ people when wecheck our guidance documents andpolicies.We will look at mental health services andLGBTQ and make the services better.Page 21

We want to create a new HIV and SexualHealth action plan.We will make sexual health appointmentsmore accessible. This will include telephoneand postal services.We will look at how we work with youngpeople and children who want tounderstand or change their genderWe will work with transgender and nonbinary people to make sure they take part inhealthcare services. And help improve theirhealthcarePage 22

Actions for educationWe will make sure we include LGBTQ issuesin the things we teach in schools.We will make sure that professionals aretrained to support LGBTQ people andtackle hurtful behaviour.We will provide information to supportfamilies of LGBTQ young people.We will create guidelines for schools andlocal authorities about transgender people.Page 23

We will work with schools to tackle hatecrimes.We will work with universities and colleges tomake LGBTQ friendly places for learnersand staff.We will think about giving money to researchinto LGBTQ people.Actions for the workplaceWe will help employers train their staff to bemore LGBTQ friendly.Page 24

We will give information about employmentrights for transgender people. And we willgive this information to employers.We will ask organisations to collectinformation about the types of people theywork with.Actions from Covid-19We will think about the experiences ofLGBTQ people, especially LGBTQ childrenand young people, as we come out oflockdown.We will do research into how Covid-19 hasaffected LGBTQ people in Wales.Page 25

Hard wordsAsylum seekersAsylum seekers are people who leave their country toescape danger. They ask to live in another country.DiscriminationDiscrimination is when you are treated badly or unfairlybecause of your sex, race, religion, disability or sexualidentity.EqualityEquality means treating people fairly and making surethey have the same chances in life.Hate crimeA hate crime is when somebody causes harm to anotherperson because of the way they are.InclusionInclusion means everyone can take part, and everyonehas a fair chancePage 26

LGBTQ LGBTQ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender,Queer or Questioning and others. This is a community ofpeople who share experiences because of who they areand who they love: Lesbians are women who are attracted to otherwomen. Gay men are men attracted to other men. Bisexual people are people who are attracted to bothmen and women. Transgender people are people who are born as onesex but are the other sex. For example, a person wholooks like a man on the outside, may be a woman onthe inside. Even though Queer has been used as a bad wordagainst LGBTQ people, some people have started touse it in a positive way for when they feel that wordslike straight, gay and lesbian do not really describethem. Questioning is for people who are still figuring out whothey are and how they identifyNon-BinaryNon-Binary is when you do not feel that you are simplymale or female.Page 27

PoliciesPolicies are written documents that say the rules abouthow we do things.Protected characteristicsProtected characteristics includes race, age, gender,religion, disability and sex.Public sectorThe public sector provides services to the public. Orexample, education, social services, health and housing.RefugeeA refugee is someone who has been forced to leave theircountry. This may be because of war or they have hadtheir life threatened.Sexual IdentitySexual Identity is who you are sexually attracted to. Forexample lesbian, gay man, bisexual, heterosexual.Page 28

Use too much alcohol or drugs, or smoke LGBTQ people who also have other protected characteristics are more likely to be at risk. Protected characteristics includes race, age, gender, religion, disability and sex. This action plan will help us create . LGBTQ . frien