Barcelona launched a referendum to asses Catalonia’s separation, which is in violation of the Spanish constitution. The Madrid police’s sensational operations have been overly violent and excessive: wounded hundreds of civilians, mirroring the dark times of the Franco’s era. Barcelona declares its independence using a democratic voting system that’s not quite up to standards. In fact, the majority of Catalonia abstained from voting. (Perhaps) Madrid will send the military. Barcelona asks for help from the Holy Church. Madrid forbids the parliament’s gatherings.
The situation is deteriorating rapidly, tension is rising, and the future is becoming more and more uncertain. Both parties seem to be playing the “worse is better” card, which fosters tensions, but brings a larger numbers of voters to the ballot for both the conservative Mariano Rajoy’s People’s Party an anti-democracy tendencies party, that also do not support local self-government- and the centrist Convergence and Union party which recently joined the independence ideology, mostly to deflect the narrative from its corruption charges.
Nationalism without homophobia
What is the political position of the LGBTQIA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) in all of this? It is necessary to preface the answer with a clarification: the Catalan nationalism, compared to many other places, is not based on a uniformed ideology that wants its citizens adapting to one ethnicity, one religion or one gender.
The “historical” nationalism -promoted by the bourgeois elite- have supported sexual minorities for years through progressive policies, a path embarked to distinguished itself from the backwards view of the centrist Spanish party. The conservative far-left have also bloomed, during these years of economic crisis. It aims to launch a new revolutionary project which is even heavily supported by the LGBTQIA.
A split movement
The independence support within the movement is far from consistent, only a few groups have taken part openly. One of the most prominent is the Col·lectiu Gai de Barcelona (Gay Cooperative of Barcelona) which campaigned to vote pro-independence, and which is celebrating the referendum as a great accomplishment. L’Associació Cristiana de Gais i Lesbianes de Catalunya (The Christian Gay and Lesbians of Catalonia Association) have also expressed similar intentions, while the Front d’Alliberament Gai de Catalunya (the Gay of Catalonia Liberation Front) – the oldest regional association- have also supported the referendum with a broader view.
The statement: “The unjustified abuse of the violent oppression exercised by the Spanish ‘government’ state against the fundamental rights of Catalan citizenship” from the Plataforma LGTBIcat (the LGTBI Platform for Catalonia), and the Observatori Contra l’Homofòbia (Observatory Against Homophobia) pushed many neutral LGBTQIA groups to join the October 3rd strike. For instance, the non-profit Casal Lambda, the sport club Les Panteres Grogues (The Yellow Panthers), the Enllaç foundation -which focuses on elderly LGBTQIA members-, and the Associació Catalana per la Integració d’Homosexuals, Bisexuals i Transsexuals Immigrants (Catalan Association for the Integration of Homosexuals, bisexuals and Transexulas Immigrants) have closed their doors.
A few groups like l’Associació de Pares i Mares de Gais i Lesbianes (the Association for Gay and Lesbian Moms and Dads), the group Enruta’t -who focus on educating teachers about LGBTQIA issues-, and police organization Gaylespol, have not expressed their opinion, and nearly no one completely lined up against the referendum, perhaps due to the uprising political climate.
The tipping point
A transexual Catalan activist -who we will call Núria to protect her identity- opened up to the Grande Colibrì: “You are fooling yourself, if you think no violence will take place. Both parties did use physical and mental violence; we are at the tipping point”.
Núria’s opinion of the Barcelona political parties is quite unflattering: “The People’s Party is made of incompetent people, and will never accomplish anything new. Independent parties like the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (The Lefty Republicans of Catalonia), Candidatura d’Unitat Popular (the Popular Unity Candidacy), and Convergence and Union swim in lies, and hide themselves behind their fortress of belief. Not to mention the ambiguity of Unidos Podemos (United We Can) that will never develop a clear thing”.
After much pondering, the transexual activist hase voted for the centre-right Ciudadanos (Citizens): “At least, they have a clear idea of what a state should be. They prefer peace, to a civil war or similar. I choose them even if it means compromise, even if I don’t agree on everything. We can always rally against those unacceptable points, but exceptional decisions need to be taken during exceptional times.”
Pier and Letizia
translation by Barbara Burgio
©2017 Il Grande Colibrì
