The Government’s deputy delegate in A Coruña, María Rivas, together with the Director General for the Real and Effective Equality of LGTBI+ Persons of the Ministry of Equality, Julio del Valle, held this morning in the Government Delegation a meeting with representatives of LGTBIQ+ entities, in which they reaffirmed the commitment of the Government of Spain to an inclusive and diverse society and to the defense of the rights achieved by the LGTB+ collective.
Prior to the beginning of the meeting, all the participants placed on the facade of the Delegation a flag with the emblem of Pride, which will wear for the rest of the month at the headquarters of the Plaza de Ourense.
The Vice-Chancellor of Equality and Diversity of the University of Coruña, Cristina López, and various representatives of Alas Coruña, Sex Point Committee Antisida Coruña, LGTBIQ+ La Colectivo, LesWorking, LGTB+ Advance, Palestra Asociación, LGTB+ Activists, LEES Coruña and CoruFest, along with unions such as UGT and CC.OO, participated in the meeting.
The subdelegate and the Director General put in value the action of the Government of Spain in favor of the rights of LGTBI+ people, which materialized over recent years in the creation of the General Directorate of Sexual Diversity and LGTBI+ Rights, in the approval of two laws of great importance such as Law 15/2022 for Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination, also called 'Zerolo Law'; and Law 4/2023 for the real and effective equality of trans people and for the guarantee of the rights of LGTBI+ people.
In addition, the Government is finalizing the State Strategy for the Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination of LGBTI+ Persons and a State Strategy for the Social Inclusion of Trans Persons.
These regulations form a range of measures aimed at the creation of rights, the implementation of specialized services, and, if necessary, to attend to the victims of hate crimes or discrimination based on LGTBIphobia, as well as to combat hate speech. An example of these services is telephone 028, a telephone service of information, legal advice and specialized immediate psychosocial care against all forms of violence due to LGTBIphobia, aimed at all LGTBI people or relatives. The service is completely free and is in operation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The subdelegate recalled that Spain is currently the fourth country in the world where the rights of LGBTI+ people are most respected and the Rainbow Index indicator, (which is produced annually by the international federation of entities that fight for the rights of lesbian, gay, trans, bisexual and intersex people) points out that Spain is a country with a good quality of life for LGBTI+ people compared to other European countries and the rest of the world. “We know that there are spaces for improvement, that we can and must continue to advance in everything that leads to real equality, to build a more tolerant society, more diverse and free of hate speeches, and that we need to do it together and together and not leave room for regression, we must not allow any step backwards,” said María Rivas.
Both the subdelegate and the Director General, heard the demands of the representatives of the groups and expressed their support and collaboration for the activities convened on the occasion of the celebration of Pride during this month of June.