24/07/2019
The leader of Plaid Cymru has made the link between how gay men were treated by society in the 1980’s, and the current persecution by certain elements in society of trans people. Adam Price was speaking at a Welsh Assembly conference organised by the top LGBT newswire Pink News. Mr Price’s comments were aimed as much at radical separatist feminists operating on line as the more traditional anti-freedom campaigners drawn from what is known as the “religious right wing” in the States. He spoke of the struggle for acceptance that took place through the eighties and nineties and the role that Plaid Cymru, as a progressive Parliamentry party, was able to play in this. Mr Price also warned that the cost of freedom is eternal vigilance and noted that we always need to press for equality. Plaid Cymru is a politically left of centre party in Wales, advocating for independence for the country within a federated European structure. The party started out on the cultural nationalist wing of politics, and the early Welsh Independence movement was extremely right wing and had some racist ideology. During the 1960’s however, the liberation movements in Celtic countries were influenced by the new left and the counterculture and became much more aligned to the left of the spectrum. In the seventies Plaid was very much aligned to the anti-nuclear movement and was popular with many people moving to Wales as part of the “back to the land” ethos. At the General Election of 1992, it formed a local electoral pact with the Green Party to get Cynog Dafis elected for the Ceredigion seat. Plaid Pride, its own LGBT network, was established some fifteen years ago and the party is a regular stall holder at Cardiff Pride every September. Mr Price is one of the more progressive if not radical members of Parliament. He initiated impeachment proceedings against then Prime Minister Tony Blair over the Iraq War issue, and also worked with Conscience, a campaign which aims to allow pacifists to have their taxes invested in non-military parts of the economy. Mr Price has consistently voted for equality and has is seen as a more moderate voice within Welsh nationalism than his predecessor, Leanne Price.
