Senior Welsh politician speaks out on growing up gay

In a new video for LGBT+ History Month, Jeremy Miles MS describes how he “just didn’t see how a kid from a working class, Welsh community who felt this way, could ever lead a happy life”. 

Miles now represents Neath in the Senedd and serves in Mark Drakeford’s Cabinet as Minister for Education and the Welsh Language.   

Speaking in his constituency at Onllwyn Welfare Hall – a place popularised in the 2014 film Pride about striking miners and the gay and lesbian group that supported them – Miles talks about his own history and what it means for him now. 

“What my story has taught me is that every kid deserves the very best start in life whatever their background, and that our schools should be inclusive places, which reflect the diversity of modern Wales and where no one feels on the outside, like I did.”  

“I won’t compromise on that, because it’s personal.  That’s what my story has taught me.”  Jeremy Miles MS

“I won’t compromise on that, because it’s personal.  That’s what my story has taught me.” 

The Welsh Labour Government is implementing a new curriculum which celebrates Wales diversity and history, giving students essential age appropriate information, and allowing the stories of LGBT+ people to be woven throughout subjects.  

LGBT+ people continue to face challenges, rising incidents of abuse and hate crime, and their experiences are often weaponised on social media. Despite this though, Jeremy Miles is hopeful for a better future if we’re willing to fight for it. Closing the video, he says: 

“The lives that we are all living today are the history of tomorrow. So it’s up to us to hand on to the next generation, a legacy of justice and change, just like those who stood up and stood out in our own history, have left for us.”