When the Gay Village Is Somewhere Else: Reflections on LGBTQ+ Public Policies in Catalan Rural Areas

Abstract

Although the analysis of gender diversity in rural settings has almost two decades of research, it is still very emerging compared to the extensive literature on LGBT people in big cities. Furthermore, when focusing our attention on public policies aimed at the care of LGBT people, once again, the big city perspectives overrun the representations and discourses about the needs, demands and experiences of LGBT people. However, if we agree that space is relevant in shaping social, cultural and sex-gender relationships, we also should study the implementation of the LGBT people’s care policies taking it into account. In order to analyse this phenomenon, we will tackle the Catalan case. The Catalan Parliament passed in 2014 the Law 11/2014 guaranteeing the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people and thus eradicating homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. This new law is viewed as a new step forward, which enables public administration to adopt an active role in safeguarding and promoting the well-being of LGBT people. In this chapter, we will analyse the implementation of this law in two rural regions of Catalonia (Alt Empordà and Garrotxa) paying attention to three key points: (1) discourses, representations and practices of care professionals about sexual and gender diversity, (2) experiences, perspectives and expectations of LGBT people living in rural settings with regards to services providers and, (3) conflicts and limits in the implementation of LGBT policies intended to big cities in rural areas