Count us in

Why This Campaign Matters

Wales aspires to be the most LGBTQ+ friendly nation in Europe, but that ambition can’t be realised unless we understand the real lives of LGBTQ+ people across the country. Right now, we don’t have the full picture and that is a serious problem.

Public bodies across Wales still lack consistent, inclusive, and meaningful approaches to collecting data about LGBTQ+ people. That means our experiences from healthcare and housing, to education and employment, are invisible in the evidence base used to make decisions.

When we’re not counted, we’re not considered.

Count Us In is a bold, community-led campaign calling on the Welsh Government to ensure that all public bodies across Wales collect, understand, and use LGBTQ+ data ethically, respectfully, and effectively; with LGBTQ+ people involved in shaping how it’s done.

The Problem

Even with strong policy commitments on paper, current practice is patchy and inconsistent. In many services, data on sexual orientation or gender identity is not collected, or collected in ways that are outdated, unclear, or unsafe.

That has real consequences:

  • In health: LGBTQ+ people face higher rates of poor mental health, substance use, and barriers to care, but NHS Wales often lacks the data to target interventions (Stonewall Cymru, 2020; LGB&T Partnership, 2022).
  • In housing: LGBTQ+ young people are disproportionately at risk of homelessness, yet most councils in Wales do not record this data (AKT, 2021).
  • In education: Trans and non-binary students still face bullying and isolation, but data on their experiences is rarely captured meaningfully (Stonewall School Report, 2017).

Without evidence, inequality is allowed to continue unchallenged.

It’s Not Just About Asking the Questions, it’s About How, Why, and Who’s Involved

Data isn’t neutral. To collect it effectively, LGBTQ+ people must be involved in deciding how it’s collected, used, and safeguarded.

To get meaningful data, people need to trust that the systems asking for it will:

  • Use it to improve their lives
  • Not expose them to harm or discrimination
  • Understand and reflect the complexity of their identities

This means:

  • Building trust through community dialogue and transparency
  • Ensuring cultural competence in how questions are framed, especially for people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities in Wales
  • Recognising the differences between sexual orientation, sexual identity, and sexual behaviour, and not reducing people to a checkbox
  • Acknowledging the nuances of gender identity across different cultural and linguistic backgrounds

Too often, current data systems fail to account for these realities. This must change.

We want to live in a Wales where:

  • LGBTQ+ people are visible in the data that shapes services
  • Public bodies are equipped to meet our needs
  • Communities trust that their information will be used safely and ethically
  • We are included in deciding how data is collected and what it’s used for
  • Decisions about us are made with us; using real evidence, not assumptions

This campaign is about more than data. It’s about dignity, justice, and visibility.

The Research Is Clear

  • The UK Government’s National LGBT Survey (2018) revealed stark inequalities but its one-off nature and lack of follow-up limited impact.
  • The Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act requires public bodies to serve everyone but without LGBTQ+ data, they cannot meet their legal obligations.

What We’re Calling For

We’re calling on the Welsh Government to:

  1. Mandate inclusive, standardised LGBTQ+ data collection across all public services in Wales.
  2. Develop clear, community-informed guidance and training for public bodies and frontline staff; with LGBTQ+ people at the heart of its creation.
  3. Ensure that data systems recognise complexity, including the distinctions between sexual orientation, behaviour, and identity, and the diversity of gender identities across cultural backgrounds.
  4. Invest in trust-building work so LGBTQ+ people feel confident their data will be used for good, not harm.
  5. Guarantee transparency and accountability including annual progress reporting and a public data dashboard.

Help us make a difference

We’re still in the early days of pulling this campaign together with the aim of pulling key stakeholders together in Autumn 2025.

We really need your support to help make this change happen.

Interested? Let us know below and join the campaign mailing list.

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