How does the idea and the need to make a diagnosis arise?

“We have had concrete previous campaigns, but always around Pride Day on June 28 and very superficial, and we saw that that is not really addressing the issue, that we had to work on other policies. In plenary we decided that the first step was to make a diagnosis of the collective, to know the local reality in this matter, and then to begin to take concrete action on it.” The researchers of the association Zuriñe Rodriguez Sudergintza and Ibai Fresnedo Hiruki Larrox have been in charge of making the diagnosis.

These kinds of diagnoses have been made in big cities, but Legorreta is the first country to do something like this. Is the collective more invasive in small towns?

In small towns, visibility is difficult, as the interviewees themselves have said, which is why it is also important to make this type of diagnosis. If Legorreta's can help other municipalities, it's really interesting to know local policies and learn from each other.

Has there been a lot of participation? And many of them have done so anonymously? I mean, does people have a hard time coming out of the closet in the village?

There has been everything among the participants, both the people who are in the closet and the ones who have come out of the closet, and the ones who have explained their sexual identity in certain situations and areas and in others not… but they have all conducted interviews anonymously because we wanted to ensure a safe space and process. Quantity, much or little, is subjective. I would highlight the profile: in general they are quite young; it seems that older people find it more difficult to participate in such a process.

What conclusions of the diagnosis would you draw?

For example, I've been struck that most people don't identify public space as a danger, but at the same time they think that the public presence of LGTB as a person can have consequences, there's a contradiction there. They stress that, above all, insults and signatures have been felt indirectly, more behind than outward, in gossip… Being a small town and getting to know each other together means opening up the gossip and comments.

“Small people, great hell,” the expression says. Can the environment suffocate in small communities?

The interviewees have pointed out that in some situations they experience this feeling of suffocation, but even though we usually associate it with small towns, I imagine that the LGTB collective, to the extent that it is not yet a free collective, will also occur in large cities. Attacks occur everywhere, for example.

And yet, from small towns to cities, many practice sexilium in search of greater freedom and anonymity…

In previous years we've had sexiliaries, LGTB people have moved to larger cities, but in this diagnosis we've seen a change, the young generation sees their life project in Legorreta, struggling to make the LGTB community visible in the village itself.

The proximity of small towns has two sides: it can facilitate more compact networks of mutual care, but it can also offer fewer handles, or at least miss the diversity that can be found in the city, such as bars of environments.

That is right, the people have both sides of the coin. From night to morning a brotherhood bar will not be created in Legorreta, but initiatives that will gradually take into account LGTB citizenship in cultural activities, leisure activities… The way is to create spaces in which they themselves and citizenship in general feel safe. They will also gradually acquire spaces.

What are you going to do with the results of the diagnosis?

The very presentation of the diagnosis, in the town square, is an act of great symbolism. We want to give visibility to the diagnosis and we wanted to take the place at a time in the street (this Friday evening at dusk), in which visibility is an important step. Next, we will complete the planning to see what measures to take, with the objective of making Legorreta a inhabitable people for all.