Paula Boira Nacher |
Madrid (EFE) Sumar’s coalition, and recalls that she “is political and has done what she had to do.” The symbols of the collective, she points out, “are the activists.”
“The symbols of the collective are the activists who leave their skin and blood behind,” Sangil highlighted in an interview with EFE on the occasion of International Pride Day, during which he vindicated the work of Pedro Zerolo, Beatriz Gimeno, Boti García , Silvia Jaén, Desireé Chacón “and each one of the people who in their territories and from their entities fight for our rights.”
Sangil has ruled out ruling on Sumar’s veto for Montero to enter his lists for the 23J elections because the FELGTBI+ “does not enter into the internal evaluations of the parties”, although he has encouraged the group to “vote with pride, for diversity for a country full of colors and for not going back to that gray country that we saw 50 years ago with the Franco dictatorship”.
Elections and rollback of rights
The president of the FELGTBI+ assures that she is not “afraid” of the result of the elections, although she does feel “concerned” that setbacks in terms of LGTBI+ rights will reach Spain, such as those that Italy is experiencing, where the Government has demanded that the City Councils to stop enrolling the children of same-sex couples.
“Vox and the PP support these policies”, assured the activist, who recalls that the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, did not need to agree with Santiago Abascal’s party to announce the repeal of the law trans madrileña
The president of the Federation has also had words for the recently constituted Madrid City Council, whose government areas do not include any that expressly name the LGTBI+ collective and which has ruled out placing the rainbow flag on the façade of the consistory.
“I think that what is not seen or what is not named does not exist, and if they erase us from the names of councils or institutions, there will be no legislation or public policies in favor of the group,” lamented Sangil, who has criticized that the mayor of the capital, José Luis Martínez Almeida, has not yet met with the FELGTBI+ since he took office in 2019.
“The city council will have to consider whether it wants to be for everyone, everyone, or just the one on Calle Serrano and Salamanca,” said the activist, who lamented that the capital “is colorless” and that only “a few posters have been placed where neither the colors of the rainbow nor our flags are identified”, and that “the LGTBI+ collective is not even named”.
The rise of the extreme right and hate speech
Among one of the main concerns of the group, Sangil has named the rise of hate speech in public institutions caused by the entry of the ultra-right and “the radicalization of the PP”, who is ugly for introducing these attitudes in town halls and communities autonomous regions where he governs after 28M.
“They are suppressing equality councils to form family councils where diversity is not contemplated,” warns the activist, who considers this movement an “involution.”
Faced with this situation, the Federation proposes the creation of a “State pact against hate crimes” that includes not only attacks against the LGTBI+ collective, but also against “all vulnerable citizens”, such as women, migrants, Roma people, people with disabilities or those who live in a situation of homelessness.
“We are going to see who signs it and who takes a picture”, Sangil adds.
a political pride
The president of the FELGTBI+ has recognized that Madrid Pride has become an event with a “capitalist” aspect, but highlights that this celebration has also been “political” for several years and serves as a “lever”, “tool” and ” loudspeaker” to get rights.
Along these lines, Sangil praises the celebration of Critical Pride, a platform that is committed to repoliticizing this event to restore its vindictive character and which manifests itself on June 28 in a differentiated way from the official Pride.
“I share many of the postulates of Critical Pride and I think they are legitimate,” confesses the president of the Federation, who declares herself a “fan” of this platform and ensures that both factions “come together” in the same objective: “the persecution of rights and improve our lives as LGTBI+ people”.
First months of the Trans Law
One of the milestones of the collective this legislature was the approval last February of the LGTBI+ and trans law, thanks to which gender self-determination became effective in Spain, that is, the change of registered sex without the need for medical reports or treatments hormonal.
Regarding the operation of this norm, Sangil assures that they still do not have official data, although as far as they know the gender change processes in the Civil Registry “are being carried out normally” and without “any relevant incident”.
However, the president of the FELGTBI+ regrets the “noise” generated during the process of approval of the law.
“The debate has focused on creating hoaxes towards transgender people without taking into account that this law approves rights that affect the entire group,” specifies the activist, who believes that the focus of the attacks on a single letter of the acronym “has been detrimental to find the point of union with the citizenry.”
Despite this, Sangil celebrates that after eight years of “intense work” a standard has been approved that “completely changes the context.”
“Now we have to work on the implementation of the law and continue advancing to achieve real equality, equality on the street,” said the president of the FELGTBI+, who encourages the group to “conquer space, be visible, not live in lies and look for that bit of happiness that we all need”.
