Welsh book aimed at making young LGBT people feel comfortable with themselves shortlisted for two top prizes

Martin Shipton

A groundbreaking book aimed at helping young Welsh people from the LGBTQIA+ community be secure in their identities has been shortlisted for two prestigious awards.

Cymry. Balch. Ifanc (Young, Welsh and Proud) by various authors and published by Rily is in for the Tir Na Nog award for children’s literature as well as for Welsh Book of the Year in the children and young person’s category.

The book is published in both Welsh and English. Its publisher, Lynda Tunnicliffe, said: “We were given the opportunity to apply for funding from an inclusion and diversity grant offered by the Welsh Government. The money would enable us to research and develop content for a new book aimed at young people aged 12 and above.

“When our application was approved, the questions that immediately came to mind were:

Where do we start?

Where are the gaps in the market?

What sort of book would this audience be interested in reading?

“We decided to start by looking at some of the most recent statistics available from Wales and it very quickly became apparent that there had been a worrying increase in recorded hate crime.

“Hate crime is a crime, typically involving violence, that is motivated by prejudice. The law recognises five types of hate crime on the basis of race, religion, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity.”

Hate crimes

Over a period of four years, reported hate crimes relating to sexual orientation rose in England and Wales from 14,161 in 2018/19 to 25,639 in 2021/22 – an increase of 81%. In relation to hate crimes against transgender people, the numbers rose over the same period from 2,253 to 4,262, an increase of 89%.

Ms Tunnicliffe added: As is common with many types of crime, these statistics only provide a glimpse of the reality. Other government statistics suggest fewer than one in 10 LGBTQIA+ people report hate crimes or incidents.

“This data shows a sad fact: that hate crime and, more specifically crime involving sexual orientation and gender identity, has significantly increased in Wales. It’s an increase that means harm and distress is caused to people whose freedom to be themselves needs to be protected and whose safety and security must be ensured; and involves perpetrators who limit and damage their own prospects by expressing views and conducting themselves in ways that are misguided and who need to be supported to change.

“Moved by this, we discussed whether our book could help to address the situation, by promoting and encouraging understanding, inclusion and consideration in people while they are young. nWe thought we should try!)

Story based

Explaining why the book has a story-based structure, Ms Tunnicliffe said: “Our team decided that one of the best ways to draw people in is through storytelling. Everyone loves a story. And if it’s true – all the better! We wanted to include as many stories as possible, and so we invited numerous people to create the content, which would provide a balanced and representative account of the realities some people face.

“Our aim was to include personal experiences from the LGBTQIA+ community, told in peer-to-peer style by our authors to young readers in an easy-to-read and beautifully presented book.”

The book contains the experiences of 13 young Welsh people, one of whom is Rhiannon, who is from what she describes as a ‘small, conservative village in south Wales”.

She writes: “Coming out was not easy, but I’d like to focus on the positive experiences I’ve had, because I don’t feel like they’re talked about enough. When I was coming to terms with who I was, I was bombarded with stories of people being disowned because of who they were, and it scared me. Of course, this does happen sometimes, and it’s horrible, but I’ve had some really great experiences because and in spite of the fact that I;’m gay, experiences I didn’t always believe I deserved. There are pros and coins to everything in life, but if I can help one young person feel a little brighter about their future, I’ll be happy.

“When I was 13 I had my first ‘gay love’. I’d had boyfriends before, but I always felt indifference towards them, rather than anything close to resembling love. This new experience made me realise I was gay. Understanding who I was felt like how I imagine a flower feels like in spring, when it blooms and feels the sun on its petals for the first time. I felt like I was finally awake. It sounds like a cliché but, in that moment, everything was so pure and I wasn’t scared because I felt so right.

“ … In my years of coming to accept who I am I’ve found that I had a lot of internal homophobia to work through. I’d worry that people thought I was disgusting and perverted because those were my own stigmas and opinions that I was projecting on to others. As I have grown up and accepted myself, the fear of other people’s judgement has subsided because, as it turns out, the majority of the hatred I was scared of experiencing was coming from inside myself.

“I used to feel as though the LGBT aspect of my identity was the outstanding feature of my character. I think I thought I didn’t have much else to offer people, but as I have got older, I now feel like a more well-rounded individual. I am extremely proud of where I come from and who I’m becoming.

“If there was one piece of advice I could give to younger me, it would be to be patient with yourself and others. Identity is a beautiful thing; please don’t hide who you are. It is cliché, but there is no one out there like you.”