For the first time in history, the commemoration of LGTBI Pride Day —celebrated every June 28 in memory of the Stonewall riots of 1969— is marked by an intense electoral run-up and the PP and Vox pacts in town halls and communities. The festive tone of other years contrasts with a day of protest tinged by the disappearance of Equality departments, town halls without rainbow flags and announcements of repeal of the trans law.
If the PP comes to power, either alone or with Vox, the days of the recent trans law would be numbered in Spain and, as a result, alarm bells have gone off among the collective. The president of the PP himself, Alberto Nuñez Feijóo, said loud and clear that he will repeal said law by understanding the rule as “nonsense” that “attacks minors”, “doctors”, “feminist groups” and “common sense “. “It is easier to change your legal sex than to get your driver’s license,” he assured before the Onda Cero microphones at the beginning of the month.
Along these lines, Isabel Díaz Ayuso announced in her inauguration speech as president of the Madrid community that she will reform the Madrid trans law as promised to Vox.
The PP-Vox alliances in various town halls have also meant removing the rainbow flag from the town hall balconies, but, on a day like today, the PP has decided to distance itself and illuminate for the first time its national headquarters on Génova street in Madrid.
In the same way, José Luis Martínez Almeida will once again illuminate the façade of the city hall of the capital and the Cibeles fountain with the LGTBI colors, despite the fact that he already refused to hang the flag on the façade of the City Hall, protected by a judgment from the Tribune Supreme.
The trans and LGTBI law has been the greatest achievement of the collective in the last legislature, as it represents a historic milestone in favor of the rights of trans people. The norm, approved by the PSOE-Podemos coalition government, allows the change of sex and name in the DNI and in the Civil Registry without having to provide medical, psychological or psychiatric reports, and without having to take hormones for two years. as established by the 2007 law.
The rejection of the law that allows the change of sex in the registry from the age of 16 without conditions, and with the endorsement of the parents from the age of 14, unites popular and Vox, whose appeals have already been admitted for processing by the Constitutional Court.
Faced with this possible setback, the LGTBI collective will take to the streets to claim and condemn hate attacks and the increase in homophobic and transphobic speech on the Internet. In fact, hate messages against the collective on social networks have increased by more than 130% between 2019 and 2022 in Spain, according to the report Hate Speech and LGTBIQ Pride in digital conversation, prepared by the consultancy LLYC.
The Observatory Against Homophobia in Catalonia (OCH) has registered a 7% increase in LGTBIphobic attacks so far this year compared to the same period in 2022, an increase that they attribute to the rise of hate speech promoted by the extreme right
“They are not going to make us disappear. We will not take a step back. Against hatred, visible and proud,” said the president of the LGTBI State Federation, Uge Sangil, when photographing herself in front of the controversial Vox canvas, hoisting the rainbow flag .
The ‘canvas of hate’ was withdrawn this Tuesday after the demand of the Electoral Board of the Madrid Zone. The advertising campaign, under the slogan “decide what matters”, explicitly called for throwing away the LGTBI movement, pro-independence, feminist, communist, environmentalists and other groups contrary to their ideology.
The collective has found an ally who, on the other hand, is surprising for being very active in this pre-electoral campaign. Coinciding with the Ministry of Equality award given to José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in his third Rainbow Recognitions, the former president has defended the work of the portfolio headed by Irene Montero in the rights of LGTBI people. Zapatero was very forceful in his speech: “We are going to lower the rainbow flag as many times as necessary because it represents a story of love and dignity.”
Zapatero’s voice opens the promotional video with which the PSOE has congratulated Pride Day through its social networks. During the Zapatero legislature, the right to marriage between people of the same sex was recognized and the gender identity law was also approved, which allowed adults with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and two years of treatments, the forerunner of current law.
LGTBI associations and activists do not hide their concern about the entry of Vox into different administrations and warn of the involution that is already taking place in countries where far-right parties govern, such as Hungary or Italy, where the authorities have begun an offensive to prevent registration of children of homosexual couples.
The State Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Trans, Bisexuals, Intersexuals and more (FELGTBI) is committed to mobilization. “To protect the rights that we have already achieved and fight for those that remain, we must fill the streets and the polls with Pride for the rights of all, everyone and everyone. So that it is not our last Pride. Let’s take to the streets. Vote with pride “, they have cried through social networks.
The state Pride march will take place this Saturday, July 1 in Madrid and an attendance of more than a million people is expected. The Government delegation has designed a special security device with more than 3,000 troops, more than double that of the last edition.
