LGBT Rights in Spain

LGBT Rights In Spain

The rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Spain have undergone several dramatic changes in recent decades. Today Spain provides one of the highest degrees of liberty in the world for its LGBT community. However, this was not the case for much of Spain's history. The evolution from the Roman sexuality, where the sexual act and power relationships engendered were more important, to the modern concept of homosexuality as a type of sexuality and even lifestyle, was determined and modified by many factors. One of the main ones has been the influence of Christianity, which characterized sexuality as an act whose only goal was procreation, so that the other sexual activities were seen as sinful and contrary to God's wishes. This would be reflected in the legislation of the time, where sodomy was identified with State treason and punished harshly with death by fire. The turnabout point was marked by the Enlightenment, when individual liberties started gaining importance, to the point that in 1822 sodomy was taken out of the Spanish criminal code and effectively legalised. The slow and hard ongoing process toward acceptance of homosexuality was suddenly interrupted by the Spanish Civil War and Francisco Franco's regime, which precipitated a strong repression of the LGBT community in Spain. When the regime ended, the process resumed, although homophobia was strong.

Today, Spain is one of the eleven countries around the world that allows same-sex marriage and has the most progressive laws, since they also permit adoption by same-sex couples. Spanish LGBT culture has been exported internationally with film directors such as Pedro Almodóvar and events like the Europride celebrated in Madrid in 2007. Visibility of homosexuals has reached several layers of society that were previously unthinkable, such as the army, Guardia Civil, judges or priests, although in other areas like football there is still a way to go.

Read more about LGBT Rights In Spain:  The Romans, The Visigoths, The Spanish Inquisition, Repression Under Franco's Regime, Government of Zapatero, Summary Table

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