OUR LATEST ISSUE
Gay news: 'Plaid has always had a warm welcome for everyone in Wales. With no exceptions'
Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru's LGBT group launched
Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru launched PlaidPride, its affiliated LGBT group, at its spring conference in Cardiff at the weekend.
The launch was attended by Plaid Cymru Welsh assembly member Bethan Jenkins, who said: "We are a party for everyone and PlaidPride will help us to communicate with a segment of the population who have had limited contact with Plaid Cymru in the past."
She said that despite the perceptions held by some, it had "never been the case" that the party was "only for those who come from rural and Welsh-speaking Wales".
She added: "We are a progressive party that has always believed in equal rights for everyone, whatever their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. Unlike David Cameron's Conservatives we have always been committed to gay rights and we are proud of our record."
The party's website cites its record on gay rights, having voted in favour of the equalisation of the age of consent, civil partnerships, adoption rights for gay and lesbian couples and the repeal of Section 28.
PlaidPride's Carl Harris said: "Plaid has always had a warm welcome for everyone in Wales. With no exceptions. It's about time people's perceptions caught up with reality.
"Unfortunately there are many who have the wrong perception of Plaid and part of this group's remit will be to change that."
He added: "Labour is a spent force and the Conservatives may have changed their clothes, but their record, even recently, shows clearly that they are the last people to be trusted when it comes to the rights of gay and lesbian people.
"Plaid is now the only true progressive force in Welsh politics, and we have a record to be proud of."
