Gays Under the Francisco Franco Dictatorship

The ideals of a "pure nation" transcend the notion of one superior race or ethnicity; the term also encompasses sexual identity as a measure of morality. It's well known that gays and lesbians were persecuted under the Hitler regime, thus the origin of the pink triangle; however, gays under Spain's Franco dictatorship were also imprisoned, tortured and executed at will.

Under Franco's leadership, a 1954 law called the Ley de Vagos y Maleantes (or Vagrancy Act) forbid homosexuality as a means to preserve national mores. Gays were then subjected to "cure" tactics, not unlike modern-day ex-gay camp treatments, and labeled as criminals. Under Spanish law at the time, criminals were not able to gain employment or properly contribute to their pensions. One of the most famous gays killed under the Franco Regime was playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, who wrote Blood Wedding and The House of Bernarda Alba.

Recently, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Justice Minister Juan Fernando López Aguilar enacted legislation in an attempt to rectify the country's tainted past and the persecution of gays under the Francisco Franco dictatorship. Read how...

Gays and World Regimes:
Gay Adolf Hitler and the Pink Triangle
Better to be a Fascist than Gay?

Franco Regime Movie:
Pan's Labyrinth

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