It’s only by putting a statutory mechanism in place that we will create a Senedd that is truly representative

I thought this was deferred because of the objections raised concerning the issue of self id? If a man declares he is a woman, without question, how is that gender equality? As for quotas, how many working class woman are truly represented? It's easy to suggested lived experience, but whose lived experience?

can't imagine that any woman with the smallest percentage of sense would want to be a politican let alone join the Senedd. Who wants to spend their time receiving threatening and abusive emails etc. The Senedd makes a Jacobean tragedy sound like a rom com

Two questions Sian. Will you also be campaigning for more women in the bricklaying & roofing industries, or is it just the highly-paid, cushy jobs that need to be re-balanced? Also, what type of woman do we need more of in the Sennedd: the traditional type, with XX chromosomes and a uterus, or the modern ones: the ones with beards and testicles who just think they’re women?

It’s just laughable that the MS describes herself as a feminist while having nothing to say about her party’s stance and the Bill’s obvious anomalies. Feminist by name, not by actions. A dollop of courage rather than career advancement would be refreshing. Plaid’s policy commitment is self ID. This Bill permits self ID. Yet she swerves any mention of that. It’s just shameful that a woman is prepared to do this to other women. The Bill would allow men to make a gender statement and declare themself a woman without challenge. So Sian is in favour of that- she should be blushing not writing puff piece articles uncritically boasting about it. As for UK Govt removing legal impediments, again she whitewashes the issue - they are not going to permit that. And the Bill will rightly be toast in the Supreme Court where it’s inevitably headed at huge cost. And that’s on her and all those clapping this Bill through.

What sort of “women” will you be attracting? XX Adult Human Females or XY women ie men with special feelings? This is self ID by the back door and I’m sure I’m not alone in not wanting it.

Any candidate only has to self declare they’re a woman! The Senedd has been told by the Equality and Human Rights Commission this ‘gender quotas bill’ doesn’t comply with the Equality Act 2010.

Does this include self ID’d men who think they are women? There’s no mention in this article of that. I’m all for women having a fair crack at equal access to politics, but why have t you mentioned the possibility of men self identifying as women and claiming a space?

'This commitment formed a key part of my party's Co-operation Agreement with the Welsh Government and is a cornerstone of our efforts to create a more diverse, representative and effective Senedd'. Nice to know Plaid has got its priorities right for the people of Wales. How can someone in 2024 argue positively for quotas and think it is a good thing? I do not think that when people see a woman politician in the Senedd they assume she is there because of her gender. They may criticise her like they would the men for being a career or poor politician, but her gender I do not think so. These quotas however will have a negative impact on women in the Senedd. Now people will look and wonder if she is their on merit or her gender. Of course Plaid Cymru have form on this type of manoeuvre when they allowed Carmen now Baroness Smith of Llanfaes into the House of Lords even though she came a distant second because the job had to be given to a female. Absolute joke of a party.

What a scandalous waste of time and money. You avoid two major issues here, both of which are insurmountable stumbling blocks to this ill-thought through bill. Firstly, the bill is a route to Self ID by the back door. Any man, ANY MAN, can declare himself a woman and have his name (no doubt a twee feminine one) put on the ballot which directly falls foul of the Equality Act 2010 (EA). As a result the Senedd does not have legal competence to enact this bill into law as the EA 2010 is not a devolved matter. Only the UK government in Westminster has the legal competence to do this. Did you see the utter shambles the Scottish parliament made of this at the end of 2021? Or weren’t you paying attention? Be assured that the women of Wales are organised and we won’t let this lie.

Sad state of affairs that we cannot get good people into jobs because historically we have so many blocks in place and don't seem to want to remove them.

'truly representative, and therefore truly effective as a legislature'. That's a bit of a non sequitur. The whole premise is questionable, in my opinion. Merit should be the only measure for a representative, not their genitalia. Women are just as capable of being completely useless as men are! Just ask Liz Truss! And why gender equality? Surely, a higher ideal would be to ensure representation from all social classes, so that the Senedd ceases to be the bubble that it has become. Gender equality is a Potemkin village. All facade, no substance. I cannot support a political party that takes it seriously.

If PC were in anyway serious about equality for women then this bill wouldn’t contain the word gender and it wouldn’t be a self ID shoe in. Sex is the basis upon which women face discrimination, not gender.

This is not the way to achieve better representation for women. You need to tackle the reasons why women aren't standing in the first place. Tick box positive discrimination masks the real problems. I notice you haven't mentioned that the Bill will allow any man to 'identify as a woman' to qualify for this special treatment - perhaps you might consider if this kind of misogyny might be one of the factors putting women off standing?

Sigh. Is she referring to sex or gender? Sex is real, gender is a social construct. Is the Senedd going to allow self-id? That is men (xy) declaring themselves female ? This is not funny. Women are sick and tired of men in our sports, refuges, changing rooms, etc . Just because a man wears a frock doesn’t make him a man. Diversity ought to include: class, disability, sexual orientation, age, religion and other protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. And the Senedd doesn’t have the power to enact this legislation so stop wasting money. Look at the structural problems in Wales and deal with those rather than your pathetic virtue signalling.

Equality of opportunity is a great thing and must be pushed. Equality of outcome has almost always resulted in a lowering of standards. We want the best person for the job. We should judge a person by their character and skill not things like what gender, skin colour, or religion they are, and especially not simply to meet a quota. Wales is going down a dangerous path with some of the ideologies being pushed recently. I'm all for discussions about changing the status quo, but this is madness.

Do it on the basis of sex then, not gender. Then non-binary and trans identified females will get the support they need to overcome barriers to holding political office, which are after all to do with how girls are raised to not put themselves forward and care responsibilities ie tied to sex and not gender identity.

Why stop at gender quotas? Why not ethnic origin quotas? Autistic people? Amputees? Military veterans? Why not separate quota for Polish, Romanian and English immigrants? All of these groups have a different 'lived experience', so surely they are all worthy of a quota to ensure they are adequately represented.

The only quota we need is for at least 50% of MSs to be people with some common sense - that group must be the most under-represented group in Wales.

I'm in favour of political parties taking their own internal decisions about quotas. However, I do not think it is for the state through legislation to tell political parties who they can or cannot put up as their candidates. That doesn't sit well. The state should have no say whatsoever in who a party nominates for election.

The first line says it all 'History was made in our national parliament last week', all they care about is the image of Wales not it's substance.

Gender quotas should be scrapped altogether. Candidates should be selected through meritocracy and not on the basis of their gender.

What has PC done to address the underlying issue of why women are under represented? We've gone backwards since 2003. If you look at the statistics of violence against women and girls you might get to the root of it. Sian Gwenllian is a feminist of the Nicola Sturgeon variety i.e. not at all and serve men who say they are women. I wonder where and how deeply PC has buried Prosiect Pawb? We only get blah blah blah when it's mentioned.

This is an appalling idea. I want the best people to govern Wales, not token appointments. The best people could all be female, could all be male or could all be people from Mars living in Wales. But the key part is the 'best' - quotas mean second rate appointmenst would be made.