With the arrival of 25N, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the social conversation focuses once again on the essential fight against machismo. However, on this day of denunciation and vindication, we must illuminate a reality that, for a part of the population, becomes doubly complex and painful: the violence that women suffer for the simple fact of being a woman and, furthermore, for belonging to the LGTBIQ+ community.
The LGTBIQ+ State Federation has put the spotlight on this problem through its LGTBI+ State 2025 report, prepared together with the research agency 40db. The data is, without a doubt, an urgent call to action, forcing us to look closely at the figures: four in ten LTBI+ women (lesbian, trans, bisexual, intersex and more) reported having experienced some type of violence motivated by LGTBIphobia during the last year.
X-ray of Aggression: Where and How Does Violence Manifest?
Aggression and hostility are not limited to a single space, but spread throughout the daily lives of citizens. When reading the report, we find that violence materializes in various forms, discrimination being the most reported, but without ignoring the physical and emotional impact:
- Discrimination: It affected 24.2% of these women.
- Harassment: Reported by 14.8%.
- Physical or Verbal Violence: Suffered by 13.8%.
As for the scenarios, the street continues to be the place where LGTBIphobia is most evident, concentrating 26.8% of the cases. However, violence also sneaks into theoretically safe or controlled spaces:
- On the street: 26.8%
- In educational centers: 17.6%
- In leisure places: 14.4%
- On public transport: 13.1%
Intersectionality: When Hate Multiplies
As Paula Iglesias, president of the Federation, emphasizes, LTBI+ women face “double discrimination” that places them in a position of greater vulnerability. This situation is further aggravated when it intersects with what is called intersectionality. It is not only a question of gender or orientation, but also of other axes of identity that intensify the risk of being singled out.
Hate speech is the fuel for these attacks. As the Federation warns, these narratives present on the networks and in the public sphere seek to dehumanize the LGTBIQ+ community with a clear objective: obtaining political gain.
Lesbian women labeled as “degenerate,” hypersexualized bisexual women, and trans women portrayed as a “threat.” Other identities, such as intersex or asexual women, are simply erased from the map. This pointing is not random; It is a strategy that seeks to legitimize social rejection.
Cristina Álvarez, member of the Federation’s feminisms, reminds us that the focus of these discourses is broad and painful: being a woman, being a migrant, racialized, gypsy, fat, having non-normative bodies, having a disability, living with HIV or forming diverse families add to LGTBIphobia. Behind every percentage, every statistic, there is a real life that suffers the daily impact of this hostility.
We ask you, reader, how much weight do you think political speeches have in the daily attacks that occur in your neighborhood or in your workplace? Are we doing enough to banish hatred from public conversation?
The 25N and the Cry for a State Pact
The demonstration in the streets this 25N becomes a crucial space to make visible how sexist violence is intertwined with other forms of discrimination. The defense of rights, to be effective, requires collective action and a united front that includes all feminist movements. The message is clear: there cannot be full justice as long as attacks, harassment and discrimination persist in their intersectional form.
The most pressing demand of the LGTBIQ+ State Federation is the urgent approval of a State Pact against hate speech. The objective is to eradicate messages that, constantly and daily, promote violence against thousands of women and groups in vulnerable situations. Only through effective public policies and a firm social commitment can we build an environment where everyone can live with dignity and security.
