Today is not just any day for the LGTBIQ+ community in Spain. 47 years ago, on December 26, 1978, the Congress of Deputies signed an act of historic justice by repealing the articles of the infamous Dangerousness and Social Rehabilitation Law that condemned homosexuality. That day, the unthinkable became reality: 𝐧𝐨 𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚 𝐋𝐆𝐁𝐓𝐈 𝐞𝐧 𝐄𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐧̃𝐚.
It is essential to remember it with the euphoria and respect it deserves. The simple fact of stopping being persecuted by the law, by identity, marked the beginning of a life with representation and visibility. The lives that until then lived in the margins and shadows were able, little by little, to occupy the public space that had always belonged to them. It was the first big step for a society that was slowly beginning to come to grips with the truth of love and identity in all their diversity.
The Legacy of a Repeal: Victory or Starting Point?
The Dangerous Law, with its sinister classification of homosexuality as a social danger, is a ghost that we must remember to understand the depth of that change. Its repeal was not the end of the fight, but rather the starting signal.
- Judicial Liberation: On December 26, 1978, the legal machinery that criminalized the existence of homosexual people was dismantled. State persecution is over.
- Increasing Visibility: After this milestone, the LGTBIQ+ community was able to begin to organize, be visible and fully demand their rights. Representation stopped being a dream and became a goal.
But, 47 years later, we must ask ourselves: Have we fulfilled the promise of that day? Yes, the legal framework has advanced dramatically, including marriage equality and gender identity laws. However, has this legal victory translated into full social freedom for all?
The Pending Battle in the Streets and Classrooms
Although the law protects us, social reality continues to be a battlefield. Biphobia, transphobia and lesbophobia continue to be invisible walls in the workplace, education and family. Hatred was not repealed that December 26.
As marketing director of a magazine that aspires to the utopia of equality, my point of view is forceful: decriminalization only gave us the foundation to build on. Now, 47 years later, the task of eradicating stigma and prejudice falls on each of us.
We need an education that embraces diversity from childhood. We demand safe spaces, free of violence and judgment. And above all, we need solidarity between the different LGTBIQ+ realities to be the driving force that drives us forward.
Are we doing enough to protect trans and non-binary people, who are often the most vulnerable? Have we made the history of the LGTBIQ+ struggle an essential chapter in our collective memory, instead of a footnote? Reflection is an obligation, because only by confronting our shortcomings can we move forward.
On December 26, 1978 we celebrated that we were no longer dangerous. Today, we celebrate that we are unstoppable.
