Statement for a diverse Catalan Republic free of LGBTIphobia

As on every 28 June, International LGTBI+ Pride Liberation Day is celebrated around the world to commemorate the Stonewall riots 52 years ago in New York City. That rebellion, led by racialized trans women, confronted the historical and institutional violence suffered, and marked the beginning of the LGTBI+ movement and the struggle for the conquest and recognition of the rights of lesbians, trans* people, bisexuals, gays and other expressions of sexual and gender diversity.

This year, the commemoration has inevitably been marked by the incidents of the last weekend of May in Barcelona, with several especially brutal homophobic aggressions. These are just the latest examples of the violence that LGTBI+ people continue to suffer in their day-to-day lives. Attacks on artistic expression, such as the defacing of a mural in Ripollet, a town near Barcelona, insults and humiliation on public transport, verbal and physical aggression … up to 80 violent LGTBphobic incidents in our country so far this year, according to the Observatori contra l'Homofòbia, the Observatory against Homophobia.

Yet these are no more than the tip of the iceberg of all the aggressions and violence LGTBI+ people face. And despite the legislative progress secured thanks to the commitment and tireless work of activists, LGTBI+ people continue to suffer all sorts of less obvious discriminations met in all walks of life, aggravated by the fact they may be women, transgender or non-binary, in the precariat, racialized, migrants, HIV-positive, minors, elderly or disabled, as well as those who lack a family network or are without papers.

The rise of openly homophobic and transphobic hate speech from the far right and of intolerant populist movements that have reached the institutions, but also reactionary and exclusionary attitudes from supposedly progressive and feminist spheres and parties, are among the causes of the growth of violence against LGTBI+ people. A worrying increase, especially as a result of Covid-19 confinements and the complicated situation for many LGTBI+ people who find themselves restricted to hostile environments or who suffer mental health consequences. We are also seeing this wave of hatred and violence spreading globally, from Brazil to Iran, as well as in the heart of Europe, as shown by the deaths of David Polfliet in Belgium or Normunds Kindzulis in Latvia, and the dozens of murders of trans people that occur every year worldwide. And in the face of the backsliding of rights in Romania, Hungary or Poland, we find a worrying passivity and lack of interest in the EU community institutions.

We need to be aware, as a society, that these events are neither minor nor do they affect only LGTBI+ people: they are a further expression of a patriarchal system of oppression, norms and violence on sexual diversity, identity and gender expression of all people, which still today looms with impunity, and against which it is necessary to rebel, as did those Stonewall rebels who said “enough” to police repression.

With the creation of the Ministry of Equality and Feminism, the new Catalan republican Generalitat government has assumed a clear commitment to strengthen and continue to promote LGTBI+ friendly public policies. It is necessary to continue working, in the street, in the administrations, in associations, in the educational community, in the courts and the police, and in society as a whole, to end impunity, to put reactionary attitudes and hate speech behind us, wherever they may come from, and to eradicate all forms of discrimination and violence against LGTBI+ people, especially among those most vulnerable groups such as the elderly, migrants, adolescents and children, or transgender people. In order to achieve true equality, it is inevitable we cross-examine the culturally imposed norms of the cis-heterosexual patriarchal system that presumes binary gender identities and sexual orientation and single gender appearances or expressions.

At Esquerra Republicana, we will continue to work, as we have always done, hand in hand with civic organizations and civil society in order to progress and build a diverse Catalan Republic which fully guarantees the rights of all people, and free of LGTBIphobia and any other forms of discrimination.