[1] Movimiento Español de Liberación Homosexual (MELH) was the most important lesbian and gay political organization in the transition period.
[4] The Women's Area of the Fundación Triángulo de Madrid has explained the invisibility of lesbians in this and other periods as, "A gay man has always been able to move to another place, seeking to live his identity in freedom.
"[9] According to Mexican feminist Gloria Careaga, feminism often "moves away from aspects such as sexuality and intimate life to focus on the social and the political.
[22] In 1987, the first male gay couple tried to apply for a marriage license in Spain when Josep Teixidor and Jesús Lozano submitted an application at the Civil Registry of Vic, Barcelona to try to address the legal vacuum of same-sex relationships.
In response to a rejection of the license of an application by a judge in Solsona, around 4,000 gays and lesbians showed up to protest on 3 October 1987 in Plaza Mayor in Vic.
(Spanish: El matrimonio entre gays o lesbianas no ha sido reconocido todavía en ningún lugar del mundo, pero tiene defensores.
[16] Starting in 1992, lesbian feminists began to try to meet with political parties regionally and nationally to try to effect their demands for marriage equality.
[31] The law changed in 1981, and for the first time the existence of homosexual organizations was allowed, giving lesbians the freedom to create associations without legal or political consequence.
[27] Izquierda Unida (IU) was primarily responsible for introducing legislation and supporting policies related to lesbian and gay rights in Spain in this period on both a regional and national level.
[32] In supporting equality between same and opposite sex couples in Spain, Izquierda Unida's most important role became serving as an intermediary between gay and lesbian activists and PSOE leadership.
[1] This led to the lesbian and gay political movement in 1985 to start to frame their demands as part of a broader human rights campaign.
[1] Starting in 1986, gays and lesbians began to work together again to try to move forward to achieve broader LG rights and change societal views of them so that non-homosexuals did not need to fear them.
[32][33] This integration of lesbian and gay rights into their joint electoral program with Partido Comunista de España would stay, well past the end of the González government.
[1] Prior to 1993, most of the political efforts inside the Spanish Cortes de Diputados focused on the repeal of the 1970 Law on dangerousness and social rehabilitation.
[36] Starting in 1993, every country that was European Convention on Human Rights and wanted to join the Council of Europe was required to decriminalize homosexuality.
The women had originally been part of a feminist collective, and the creation of a same-sex registry put them into a position where others were asking them to articulate political demands.
Topics at the conference included the issue of lesbians and gay men in the military, AIDs, homosexuality and the Catholic Church, and north–south cooperation.
Importantly though, these radical lesbians and feminist movements were cognizant of the context in which they existed, serving to inform them about patriarchal Spanish systems during the dictatorship and how various elements of society would respond to their needs.
[49] Queer activists were angry at times because they saw lesbian desire for visibility and recognition as challenging what they saw were more important issues, like transrights, the AIDS epidemic and homophobia.
[35] Members of lesbian collectives play an important role in continually bringing up sexual options in the Spanish feminist movement in this period.
[8] The Colectivos de Lesbianas Feministas started growing in the Basque Country in 1974 in response to the struggle between lesbians and heterosexual women within the feminist movement.
This model did not prove sustainable in the long run, but those involved were able to develop international contacts with other like minded lesbians abroad including those in Germany, France, Australia, the Netherlands and the United States.
[52][53] Red de Amazonas drew largely from an existing network called La Mar, who had extensive contact with American lesbian activists.
[47] The focus of the gay rights movement on HIV and AIDS in this period was used institutionally to downplay lesbian and feminist voices, citing the intense urgency to combat the ongoing epidemic.
[19] At Madrid Pride in 1988, gays and lesbians continued their political demands, asking that the law discriminating against same-sex sexual behavior in the Spanish Penal Code be amended.
[66] Egales is and LGBT publishing house that was created in November 1995 as a joint venture between two lesbian oriented bookstores, the Madrid-based Berkana and the Barcelona-based Cómplices.
[67] Sauna by María Jaén in 1987 was an important piece of lesbian literary fiction, depicting a public bathhouse as a place where women could find physical and emotional encounters during the previous historical period.
[47][71][58] Members included Estíbaliz Sadaba, Virginia Villaplana, Itziar Okariz, Azucena Vietes, Fefa Vila, Beatriz Preciado, Carmela García, María José Belbel, Marisa Maza, Liliana Couso Domínguez, Floy Krouchi, Katuxa Guede, Pilar Vázquez and Arantza Gaztañaga.
[71] The body of work produced by LSD artists also included photographic depictions of lesbians, acknowledging their existence and challenging a status quo that often denies them visibility.
[74] Almodóvar's provocative and in your face dealing with homosexuality Entre tinieblas and his 1982 film Laberinto de pasiones were viewed by parts of the LGB community as a necessary responsive to the oppressive nature of state-censorship during the Franco period that condemned and erased them.