The LGBT community in Cardiff is the largest in Wales. It has also been ranked as the 8th most accepting city in the world for the LGBT community. Cardiff has a vibrant gay scene, with all the main venues being within walking distance of each other. Long established venues like The Golden Cross, Mary's, Pulse and Eagle are the backbone of the community. Today, they are joined by newer businesses such as The Queer Emporium (containing Paned o Gê bookshop) and Glory Stores. The Queer Emporium also hosts the annual Queer Fringe Festival in Cardiff, their first festival in 2022. The Iris Prize is also a annual LGBTQ+ short film and prize awarding festival. Cardiff has multiple LGBTQ+ choirs including the South Wales Gay Men's Chorus, Cardiff Trans Singers and Songbirds. There are also a number of social and mutual support groups in the city, listed on Umbrella Cymru. St Fagans, the Museum of Cardiff and Glamorgan Archives collect artifacts relating to Cardiff LGBTQ+ life. Demographics The 2021 Census showed that 5.33% of Cardiff's population identifies as LGBTQ+. Glitter Cymru are a Cardiff based but Wales wide community group for ethnic minority LGBTQ+ people. History Homosexuality was partially decriminalised in 1967. in part instigated by Cardiff born MP Leo Abse (whose MP seat was in Pontypool). Prior to the law change there is some evidence of LGBTQ+ culture in Cardiff around criminal records for cross dressing, gross indecency and buggary, though criminalisations were higher than rural areas they were minor compared to other UK cities. Cardiff's The Golden Cross opened in 1863, it has been recognised as a gay bar since at least the 1970s when a wider commercial gay scene was first prominent in the city. A Cardiff-Newport branch of Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) was formed in 1972, most of its 50+ members living in Cardiff, first meeting at the Blue Anchor pub on St Mary's Street (now Le Monde restaurant) but later moving to Chapter Arts Centre in Canton. More popular with men, a separatist women's group later formed. A Cardiff faction of the Gay Liberation Front also formed in this era also meeting at the Blue Anchor. Ken Follett wrote about the GLF in the South Wales Echo in 1971. The GLF later merged into the CHE group. Cardiff FRIEND, one of many the city based outposts of London FRIEND also ran from 1973 taking helpline