The Urdd has branded a backlash to its support for the LGBTQ+ community at its national Eisteddfod this year as "offensive, extreme and extremely disappointing". The annual Welsh-language youth festival - which is taking place in Llandovery in Carmathenshire from May 29 until June 2 - has launched a new LGBTQ+ area called Cwiar (which translates to Queer) na Nog.
Workshops and events have been held in the area - which is marked by a colourful tent - and pronoun badges are also on sale there. Visitors have been encouraged to wear pronoun badges and Urdd staff have been wearing them throughout the week, reports the BBC.
The mascot for the Urdd, Mistar Urdd, has also been wearing a pronoun badge, reading "Fe/Fo" ("He/Him"). Aled Rosser, one of the leaders of the Cwiar na Nog project, told the BBC there had been a positive reaction to Mistar Urdd wearing his pronoun badge, and said the ideas had come from "young queer Welsh people".
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Welsh broadcaster Owain Wyn Evans, who was president of the day on Thursday, told the BBC: "The visibility of this as an LGBT space is just amazing. And if this would have existed when I was a young boy coming to the Eisteddfod...it would have been amazing and it would have changed my life."
He added that pronoun badges were not compulsory but people's choice to wear one should be "welcomed and celebrated". Other public figures have shown their support for the inclusive move.
Shutting down critics on Twitter, education minister Jeremy Miles wrote: "I wish people would stop interfering in young LGBT people’s right to be treated with dignity, equality and without discrimination. If @Urdd had this kind of safe space on the Maes when I was a gay teenager it might have made growing up gay a bit easier."
Latch CEO Menai Owen-Jones echoed the minister, saying she felt "excluded" when attending the Urdd Eisteddfod while growing up. "Well done @EisteddfodUrdd for being an ally to the LGBTQ+ community," she wrote. Another person on Twitter said the space was "vital" for some, adding: "Thanks @Urdd for offering a safe shelter for Wales’ young LGBTQ community. Wish things like this were around in 90s."
Others expressed their appreciation for the badges under a tweet by the Urdd promoting them. "Keep up the AMAZING job @EisteddfodUrdd. Can't wait to get my badge on Saturday," one person wrote.
On its website, Urdd Gobaith Cymru explains the area was created specifically for young LGBTQ+ members, and those who want to learn more about the queer community in Wales. It describes it as a "safe space for children and young people to socialise, network and learn more about their identity through the medium of Welsh".
However, there has also been a negative reaction online from some to the badges under the Urdd's tweet promoting them. One person wrote: "Why? Leave children to enjoy without pushing this ideology on them." Welsh women's organisation Merched Cymru also criticised the badges in a statement, in which it said it believes "children should be free to be themselves and not be labelled for not conforming to regressive sexist stereotypes of how a boy or girl should be".
It added: "Focusing on pronouns does nothing to tackle these stereotypes, instead promoting the unscientific belief that a 'gender identity' and stereotypes are more significant than whether we are physically male or female." The statement also referenced the Interim Cass Report on gender identity services for children and young people, which it says "is clear that schools should not socially transition children as it is not a neutral act - changing pronouns is a part of this."
In a statement to the BBC, Urdd Gobaith Cymru said: "The offensive and extreme comments shared by some individuals against the Urdd's position to support the LGBTQ+ community are extremely disappointing. As an inclusive and open organisation that supports all our young people, it is important for us to show support."
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