LGBTQ history in Spain

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This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) that took place in Spain.

Contents

Prior to 1600

6th century

7th Century

11th century

13th century

15th century

17th century

No known information.

18th century

No known information.

19th century

The turning point of this trend was marked by the Enlightenment movement, during which individual freedoms began to be recognized and concluded with the elimination of the “crime of sodomy” from the Spanish Criminal Code in 1822. [5]

20th century

Franco era

Homosexuality was highly illegal under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, with laws against homosexual activity vigorously enforced and homosexual people being imprisoned in large numbers. The 1954 reform of the 1933 "Ley de vagos y maleantes" ("Vagrancy Act") [7] declared homosexuality illegal, equating it with procuring. The text of the law declares that the measures in it "are not proper punishments, but mere security measures, set with a doubly preventive end, with the purpose of collective guarantee and the aspiration of correcting those subjects fallen to the lowest levels of morality. This law is not intended to punish, but to correct and reform". However, the way the law was applied was clearly punitive and arbitrary: police would often use the Vagrancy laws against suspected political dissenters, using their homosexuality as a way to go around the judicial guarantees. The law was repealed in 1979.

However, in other cases the harassment of gay, lesbian and transgender people was clearly directed at their sexual mores, and homosexuals (mostly males) were sent to special prisons called "galerías de invertidos" ("galleries of deviants"). This was a common practice until 1975, when Franco's regime gave way to the current constitutional democracy, but in the early 70s gay prisoners were overlooked by political activism in favour of more "traditional" political dissenters. Some gay activists deplore the fact that, even today, reparations have not been made. [8]

However, in the 1960s clandestine gay scenes began to emerge in Spain. Further establishments would start to appear in Barcelona, an especially tolerant city under Franco's regime, and in the countercultural centers of Ibiza and Sitges (a town in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, that remains a highly popular gay tourist destination). Attitudes in greater Spain began to change with the return to democracy after Franco's death through a cultural movement known as La movida. This movement, along with growth of the gay rights movement in the rest of Europe and the Western world was a large factor in making Spain today one of Europe's most socially tolerant people.

Post-Franco

21st century

2000s

2010-present

See also

References

  1. Visigothic Code 3.5.5, 3.5.6; "The doctrine of the orthodox faith requires us to place our censure upon vicious practices, and to restrain those who are addicted to carnal offences. For we counsel well for the benefit of our people and our country, when we take measures to utterly extirpate the crimes of wicked men, and put an end to the evil deeds of vice. For this reason we shall attempt to abolish the horrible crime of sodomy, which is as contrary to Divine precept as it is to chastity. And although the authority of the Holy Scriptures, and the censure of earthly laws, alike, prohibit offences of this kind, it is nevertheless necessary to condemn them by a new decree; lest if timely correction be deferred, still greater vices may arise. Therefore, we establish by this law, that if any man whosoever, of any age, or race, whether he belongs to the clergy, or to the laity, should be convicted, by competent evidence, of the commission of the crime of sodomy, he shall, by order of the king, or of any judge, not only suffer emasculation, but also the penalty prescribed by ecclesiastical decree for such offences, and promulgated in the third year of our reign."
  2. 1 2 (Fone, 2000)
  3. Ward, Sophie (2013-12-23). A Marriage Proposal: The importance of equal marriage for all of us. Guardian Books. ISBN   978-1-78356-034-9.
  4. Crompton, Louis (July 2009). Homosexuality and Civilization. Harvard University Press. ISBN   978-0-674-03006-0.
  5. "» A Brief History of Homosexuality and LGBTQ rights in Spain Envisioning Spain's Border". pages.vassar.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-26.
  6. Cols, Carles (6 July 2016). "Barcelona, 1931, una manifestación gay recorre las calles". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Prensa Ibérica 360º. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
  7. "La junta de protección a la infancia de Barcelona: Aproximación histórica y guía de su archivo" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 January 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  8. Rick Nolton. "Represión homosexual en el franquismo". Islaternura.com. Archived from the original on April 20, 2004. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  9. Quinta, Alfons (27 June 1977). "Manifestación en el "Día del orgullo homosexual"". elpais.com. El País. Retrieved 14 June 2024. De cuatro a 5.000 personas -entre homosexuales y simpatizantes- se manifestaron en la tarde del domingo por las Ramblas barcelonesas, con motivo de la celebración del día internacional del Orgullo Homosexual.
  10. "Where is it illegal to be gay?". BBC News. 10 February 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  11. Tomàs White, Cristina (6 October 2021). "Sonia Rescalvo Zafra: the brutal murder that galvanized the trans rights movement". www.catalannews.com. Barcelona. Agència Catalana de Notícies. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
  12. Rodríguez, Pau; Solé Altimira, Oriol (2 October 2021). "Vida y asesinato de Sonia Rescalvo, un antes y un después en la lucha contra la transfobia". ElDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 February 2025.
  13. Pastor, Enric (December 20, 2000), "El ex ministro Saavedra cree que "ocultar la homosexualidad lleva al psicoanalista"", El Mundo (in Spanish), retrieved 2007-10-25
  14. Tremlett, Giles (2001-12-13). "Gays persecuted by Franco lose criminal status at last". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  15. Cué, Carlos E. (2007-10-31). "La ley de memoria se aprueba entre aplausos de invitados antifranquistas". El País (in Spanish). ISSN   1134-6582 . Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  16. Reinlein, Iciar; Sarah Morris (November 6, 2012). "Same-sex marriage upheld by Spain's highest court". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  17. Marques, Marta (22 January 2019). "Reprodución asistida gratuita para mujeres solas y lesbianas en España". mirales.es (in Spanish).
  18. Marques, Marta (22 January 2019). "Reprodución asistida gratuita para mujeres solas y lesbianas en España". mirales.es (in Spanish).
  19. "Lina, la amiga que fue testigo de cómo mataban a Samuel: "Fue un crimen homófobo"". Telecinco (in European Spanish). 5 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  20. "Cargas policiales y un detenido en Madrid durante las manifestaciones por la muerte de Samuel". www.20minutos.es (in Spanish). 5 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  21. "Aprobada la Ley Zerolo, la primera ley contra toda forma de discriminación". Newtral (in Spanish). 2022-06-30. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  22. "España aprueba la "ley trans" mientras otros países reculan". El Universal (in Spanish). 2023-02-16. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  23. "Reuters".
  24. "Spain's Madrid region partially revokes trans, LGBTQ rights laws".