"The problem now is not visibility, but building kind spaces"

It is 1pm and the movie theatre gets little by little full of the people attending the colloquium on the LGBT movement in the UAB. About five minutes later, the general secretary, Esther Zapater, opens the eventsaying: “From the documents of the Arxiu General of the UAB, the Observatory for Equality has had the ability to briefly trace a genealogy of the LGBT movement in our university”. Likewise, she highlights that we are at a time when hate crimes are on the rise. In Catalonia, there has been an increase of 7% in the LGBT phobic incident. For this reason, Zapater insists on the “fight against the violation of people’s rights”. She has also wanted to advance that “the UAB is working in how to update all the databases and how to adjust budgets with a gender perspective”. 

Once she finishes her intervention, she gives the floor to for the moderator, Eugeni Rodríguez i Giménez, current president of the “Observatori contra LGBTI-fòbia”. Rodríguez remembers the days as a member of the “Joves per a l’Alliberament Gai “(JAG). This was the first LGBT youth association with presence in at the university. “I couldn’t study at the UAB, because I didn’t have the chance. It was hard to come out in that moment, because there were laws, such as the public scandal one, that repressed us”, he says. It was also a time when the World Health Organization (WHO) still considered homosexuality as a disease. That, as Rodríguez describes, was reflected in some manuals of the Faculties of Medicine, Psychology and Law. 

Between 1986 and 1989, another aspect the JAG had to confront was the rejection from the Catholic Church. As Rodríguez accounts, at that time, the Pope John Paul II still spoke of homosexuality as a sin. In contras, in the case of lesbianism, the church didn’t mention it, as it was considered ‘non-existent’. Along with that, the director of the “Observatori contra l’LGBTI-fòbia” wants to show that women were even more invisible. In fact, the task of the “Eix Violeta”, an association, although not being directly related to the UAB, acted in conjuction with the JAG, and it was crucial in the fight for the rights of lesbians in Catalonia. Rodríguez remembers one of his more vindictive actions they carried out in that moment: placing two beds in the middle of the streets of Barcelona with two girls in one and two boys in the other and a banner with the slogan “lo nuestro sí es pecado”.  

This visibility has been an important task for the LGBT movements that have acted in the UAB. This university hosted the JAG and the JALG, created in 1996 as “Joves per l’Alliberament Lesbià i Gai”, both groups could meet in a given space by the university. This space, for both associations was essential, as it was a safe place where they were able to express themselves and continue their fight. Many people experienced being part of these organisations, as Joan Tallada, doctor in Sociology and a referent in themes like HIV/AIDS.  

It was also the case of Neus Miquel i Tàpies, veterinarian and LGBTI activist, who is taking part in today’s colloquium. “I joined the JALG in 2000, but most people that were in had not yet come out”, remembers Miquel. In fact, people communicated by email, because of anonymity. Visibility and support groups were the most important action lines for the JALG. As Miquel explains, they created a non-mixed group of women and they “wallpapered the entire UAB with posters that asked people if they were lesbians”. Other actions that they developed were workshops and conferences, such as the International AIDS Day in 2001. For the JALG, as Miquel explains, campaigns were the most important tool for visibility on LGBTI issues and sexuality. 

In 2024, the vindications have changed. As Judit Silvestre and Carla Pascual, members of the IRIS LGBT, point out, their goal is to create a safe space, where to create community and share experiences. They want an inclusive UAB. Their demands go beyond political matters, they aspire to create a support network among students. For this reason, their actions are articulated around leisure. For example, the reading club and the film club are two activities with a lot of participation. Likewise, they have created a support space for people who need it, and they work in liaison with the Observatory for Equality.  

Eugeni Rodríguez i Giménez also confirms this need of creating real-life bonds. “In a digitalised era as we’re in, the interconnection between people of the LGBTI community is more important than ever”. In fact, this is what allowed us to create the “Observatori contra l’LGBTI-fòbia”. 

There are 15 minutes left and the colloquium is about to end. It is the moment when the public intervenes. One of the attendees asks how the society reacted towards the JALG collective and how it is different from the reaction IRIS receives nowadays. Miquel doesn’t remember any hate crime, simply “the people who weren’t interested didn’t come”. Nevertheless, Rodríguez remembers some LGBTI-phobic comments in the bathrooms of the faculties. Meanwhile, these spaces functioned as communication channels. “In the toilets we let messages for each other. In fact, the JAG did a study about these messages, as for us, the gay people, these were crucial”, explains. Rodríguez. Silvestre adds that the situation hasn’t changed that much, and these spaces are still used for this purpose. 

The audience is also interested in knowing if the JALG or IRIS maintains some connexion with other similar university groups. Neus Miquel recalls that “Sin Vergüenza” acted in the University of Barcelona, but, as they had differences in their lines of action, they were never in contact. It is the same for IRIS, as Pascual confirms. 

There’s still time for a third question, which inquires into the logo of the three groups, as these share the same inverted equilateral triangle. The JAG and the JALG in pink, IRIS in black. Rodríguez explains that it is a historical symbol of the fight for the rights of LGBT people. This triangle was used to mark LGBT people in the Nazi concentration camps, where they were horribly oppressed for their gender identity and their sexual orientation. The anagram continues, as does the fight for the rights of LGBT people in different spheres. Some vindications have changed through generations, but these continue to exist in order to achive an inclusive and diverse university. 

 

The last words come from Maria Prats, the director of the Observatory for Equality,  who wants to thank the participation of Rodríguez, Miquel, Pascual i Silvestre. As she says, “for the Observatory it has been a very good initiative,which has allowed us to trace part of our story as a university from a gender and LGBTI perspective”.  

If you missed the colloquium, you catch up reading the brief history of the LGBT movement in the UAB in the roll-ups that will be exhibited in the different libraries of the UAB. This route starts at the Communication Library and General Newspapers Archive, from May 23rd to June 5th.