Pride Month is often a time of celebration, visibility, and joy. Across Wales, rainbow flags are raised, stories are shared, and LGBTQ+ people are recognised in ways that still matter deeply. But Pride has always been about more than celebration. It’s also about asking difficult questions: who feels safe, who feels seen, and who still feels left behind?
As Wales enters a new political chapter, there’s an opportunity for the next Welsh Government to think more boldly about what LGBTQ+ equality really means. Not just legal protections or symbolic support, but something deeper: belonging.
Belonging is more than tolerance. It is about being able to live openly and confidently without constantly questioning whether it’s safe to be yourself. It means feeling recognised in the systems around you, reflected in your community, and supported throughout your life.
For LGBTQ+ people, that sense of belonging is shaped from an early age. Schools play a huge role in showing young people whether difference will be accepted or rejected. Inclusive education does more than improve understandin; it tells young people that they are seen, valued, and have a future where they can thrive as themselves.
As people move through life, belonging continues to be shaped by the environments around them. In workplaces, many LGBTQ+ people still weigh up whether it’s safe to be open about their lives. In healthcare, too many people still experience services that don’t fully understand or reflect LGBTQ+ experiences. Housing insecurity continues to affect many LGBTQ+ people, particularly young people facing rejection or isolation.
These experiences aren’t separate issues. They are shaped by the systems and cultures society creates. When services are designed without LGBTQ+ people in mind, exclusion becomes part of everyday life. When inclusion is treated as optional rather than essential, belonging becomes conditional.
This is why government matters. The Welsh Government helps shape the environments people live within every day; through schools, healthcare, housing, social care, and public policy. A bolder government would recognise belonging as something that must be built intentionally. That means investing in affirming healthcare, tackling LGBTQ+ homelessness, supporting grassroots organisations, and making sure public services are inclusive by design, not by exception.
But belonging isn’t created by government alone.
Communities shape belonging through the spaces they create and the values they promote. Local groups, youth services, sports clubs, libraries, and community organisations all play a role in helping LGBTQ+ people feel visible and welcome. This matters especially in rural communities across Wales, where isolation can often be greater.
At an individual level, belonging is shaped through everyday actions: respecting people’s identities, challenging prejudice, creating welcoming spaces, and making it clear that LGBTQ+ people are not simply tolerated, but valued.
Importantly, there’s no single LGBTQ+ experience. A young trans person in a rural community may experience Wales very differently from an older gay man in a city or a disabled queer person navigating public services. That is why future policymaking must involve LGBTQ+ people from across Wales and from all backgrounds; not just the loudest or most visible voices.
This Pride Month is an opportunity not only to celebrate progress, but to ask what kind of Wales we want to build next.
Do we want a Wales where LGBTQ+ people are simply protected from discrimination? Or do we want a Wales where people genuinely feel they belong; in schools, workplaces, healthcare, housing, and communities throughout their lives?
The next Welsh Government has the chance to be bolder than the last by helping create a Wales where every LGBTQ+ person feels safe, valued, and truly at home.
Want to take that challenge directly to Welsh government?
Send our template letter to your new MS.
Our campaign is calling for action in three key areas:
- Better access to affirming healthcare and mental health support
- Action on LGBTQ+ homelessness and housing insecurity
- Creating environments where LGBTQ+ people feel a genuine sense of belonging throughout life
Queeraeth 
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