LGBTIQ+ groups are outraged by the PSOE for removing the Q+ from the acronym and excluding trans women from women's sports
El PSOE has decided to delete the Q+ of the acronyms LGTBIQ + and prohibit participation in the women's competitions of the people of “male” biological sex. She did so at the request of classical socialist feminism, to eliminate references to the term 'queer', the umbrella that covers sexual orientations or gender identities beyond lesbians, gays, transsexuals and intersexuals. It has been one of the amendments that has reached the plenary alive after the debates of the working committees that have analyzed more than 6.000 proposals presented by the provincial delegations to the framework report of the PSOE, the party's roadmap for the coming years.
La Q, in fact, it never was. The PSOE had never included the consonant that refers to queer people within the collective's acronym LGTBIQ+. In the Congress before this one, the one in 2021, it was LGTBI + which was reflected in the keynote speech, “Thus, even if the Q was not there, it was understood that by adding the + the rest of the identities of the group were included.”, explain internal sources of the party. Even so, since then, both the organization and its specific general secretary, have always used, on a daily basis, LGTBI, without the “+".
Víctor Gutiérrez, LGTBI general secretary of the PSOE, re-elected in this Congress, explains that “lThe question that came up in the debate on the report was whether or not to leave the + in LGTBI+, the Q had nothing to do with it. The Government and the General Directorate do use the + [LGTBI+], so we wanted to align the party's nomenclature with that of the Government, but the vote went against it. But let no one doubt that we are going to work to guarantee the rights of all the acronyms of the collective, so that they all feel included and protected.".
Several people in the party say that the decision that the “+” does not appear “does not represent the majority of the PSOE”, but that the group of feminists who were against it had organized themselves well and had the power to move the vote in their favor. After the vote, already at night, several attendees said that they heard applause and cheers and shouts of “Long live the struggle of women” for having left out of the acronym the “+” and also the Q. That part of the PSOE that managed to decide the vote is “small”, and, it is no secret, it has been led by Carmen Calvo.
«A trans woman is a woman. Anything else is transphobia«
For its part, Summer has responded to the PSOE in a message on social media: «The fight for rights cannot leave anyone behind. You cannot fight the far right with far right ideas.«. Elizabeth Duval has written a post on X: «It is important to insist: this is not a conflict about whether or not to add a letter, about an acronym, about the “Q+”. It is about how far a party believes the fundamental rights of a minority extend. For the PSOE, trans women are too often a hindrance.«.
Also the MEP from Podemos and former Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, has responded to the PSOE's decision to eliminate the acronym Q+ of LGTBI and calling for banning the participation of trans women in women's sports categories. "A trans woman is a woman. The rest is transphobia, even if the PSOE says so", Has expressed Huntsman in a message on the social network X. Shortly after, he published a longer video in which he assured that "Trans women are women, whether they have a penis or a vagina» and that the rights of trans people «They are Human Rights«. «Everything else is neither classical feminism nor left-wing, it is pure transphobia", has added.
Rejection of LGTBIQ+ groups
A rejection that has also been immediate on the part of the collective trans, who have expressed their outrage with the PSOE for having approved the amendment. The Trans Platform, which brings together the main trans groups, says that the statement made by the PSOE of trans people represents a “perverse use” of feminism and has equated it”when the far right criminalizes migrants as the cause of crime”. ”That a party that calls itself progressive falls into the same ideological framework as the far right, pointing us out as the cause of a social evil is something highly dangerous for democracy and the advancement of equality in our country.", the president of the platform regretted, Mar Cambrollé.
La LGTBI+ State Federation has tweeted: «Given all the information we are reading, we hope that any ideology that does not want to be left behind on the path towards real equality for all people understands that trans women are women and that the LGTBI community also includes “+” dissidence and sexual, gender, family and body diversity.s. "
La Platform of LGTBI Entities of Catalonia has also expressed his “most resounding rejection" to the amendment approved considering that this decision, "Far from being a gesture of inclusion, it represents a step backwards in the recognition of diverse identities and in the progress achieved as a movement, with collective effort.". For the Platform, the acronym LGTBIQA+ "They are not just letters, they represent millions of people who have fought and continue to fight for their visibility, dignity and rights.”. And he argues that changing this symbolic and political framework is “make invisible" to these communities and dismantle decades of work in favor of equality and diversity. In addition, he emphasizes that this measure comes at a particularly worrying time, that is, when the aggressions are increasing LGTBIQphobic and fundamental rights are questioned on several political and social fronts.
