Girona remembers the origins of LGBTIQA+ activism in the city

GironaThe guided tour The origins of LGBTQIA+ activism in Girona It premiered last Monday as part of the Girona fair program, but it's an activity that will continue independently of the fairs, with the intention of holding it four times a year. The next tour is scheduled for Saturday, November 29th at 11:00 AM; all places are already reserved and there's a waiting list. Given the success of the first two tours, four visits a year might not be enough.

"We wanted to take a gender and feminist perspective on the city's recent history," says Sílvia Planas Marcé, director of the History Museum, which is promoting the initiative. The tour follows a route through various locations in the city where significant events took place in the advancement of the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights in Girona and the surrounding area. The historical data was provided by Lyhdyr Esquerdo, who conducted the research with the collaboration of Pau Gàlvez, a veteran activist in the LGBTIQA+ movement in Girona, who was present at several of the events described. The locations included places like the Fontana d'Or, where the first assembly of the Gay Liberation Front of Catalonia (FAGC) was held in 1988. Very close to the Fontana d'Or, where a supermarket now stands, was the now-defunct La Llibreria, a bookstore and café on Ciutadans Street run by Marta Latorre. It was where the Girona lesbian group, founded in 1996, carried out its activities. Gálvez recalled that when she rented the premises, the owner's wife asked Latorre if they planned to perform abortions there.

Plaça del Vi was also one of the locations on the route, as it has been the starting point for many of the group's demonstrations.

The historic Mesón Los Padules was also a regular stop, as FAGC assemblies were held at the Ateneo de Acción Cultural (ADAC) premises, very close to the Mesón, and they often went there for drinks afterwards. Los Padules was a very open bar, frequented by various urban tribes, such as punks and hippiesIt's also the venue where Sopa de Cabra was formed. The tour also included the Truffaut Cinema, formerly the Modern, which housed the first LGBT space in Girona in 2016. "I find it very interesting to learn about the origins of the movement in Girona," explains Silvia, one of the 25 people who signed up for this tour. Originally from Barcelona and a resident of Girona since 2011, she adds: "But if you're part of the community, Girona isn't Barcelona. I see a difference." Miquel and Eduard, from La Cellera de Ter and Inglés, respectively, also joined the tour. Both are heterosexual, but the idea appealed to them. "I'm interested in learning about a history that has been made invisible, that has been excluded from official history," says Miquel, a historian by training. Another stop on the tour is in front of the Eiffel Bridge, where the FAGC (Foundation for the Promotion of the LGBT Community) used to hang the pink triangle every year, which was often torn down and ended up in the Onyar River. The guided tour ends in Plaça de la Independència, in front of the plaque commemorating the Stonewall riots in New York in 1969. In 2019, a plaque—the first in the state—was installed to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn uprising. "These fairs have torn down our LGBTQ+ flags from our stall at the fairs," says Silvia, who points out that homophobia is still present in Girona today.