Plaid Cymru’s Leader Adam Price opens up about being the only out gay party leader

Plaid Cymru’s Leader Adam Price opens up about being the only out gay party leader in the UK

Adam Price speaking to BBC Breakfast stated that he had come out to his mother on Christmas Day aged 25. He remembered how difficult it had been growing up in the 1980s with Section 28 legislation, that as the son of a miner in a working-class community it had been a challenging time.

He spoke affectionately of the 2014 film Pride which tells the story of LGBT activists supporting the miners strikes of the 1980s. He remembers the activists in the early 80’s coming to his home town in Wales and that this was the first time he had met openly gay men and women which then gave him a sense of hope about his future.

Price described the current political times of 2019 as “dark” but stated it was important to recognise the progress made and that life for LGBTQ people does get better: “I am sat here on the sofa with you as an out gay leader of the party of Wales, we can make progress, politics is about changing things for the better so don’t lose hope, we can get there”.

Whilst recounting progress made in what he described as ‘gay rights’ he said there was work to do particularly still in relation to racism and the rise in hate crime towards racial and religious minorities He referred specifically to the discussion around anti-semitism and Islamophobia in politics and called for the electorate to be mindful of the possibility of moving backwards on progressive issues.

Plaid Cymru is a social-democratic political party in Wales advocating Welsh independence from the United Kingdom but within the European Union, in the recent parliament they held four seats at Westminster. The Conservatives and Labour will be fighting all 40 seats in Wales. Plaid Cymru will be standing in 36 seats and the Lib Dems 32 as part of a pro-Remain alliance whilst the Conservatives and Labour party are contesting all 40 seats in Wales.

As part of the television interview on Wednesday, with specific reference to his own LGBTQ circumstances Price said:

“If there’s a 15 year-old Adam Price like teenager looking in…you can get there, you can live a happy and fulfilling life and we can change the whole of society so that it can become welcoming and inclusive for us all”