Lambda Collective of Lesbians, Gays and Transsexuals

Lambda, formally the Lambda Collective of Lesbians, Gays and Transsexuals (Col·lectiu Lambda de Lesbianes, Gais, Transsexuals i Bisexuals), is an LGTBIQ+ association based in Valencia, in the Valencian Community of Spain. It was founded on 25 September 1986, emerging from the earlier Valencian gay and lesbian liberation movement, and it describes itself as a collective for sexual, gender and family diversity. Its stated purpose is to denounce publicly the discrimination and social marginalisation suffered by lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people, and to work for full equality through information, awareness-raising, education and direct support services. Lambda operates a range of services for the LGTBIQ+ population and their families. These include Orienta, an integral advice and support service staffed by multidisciplinary professionals in the social, psychological and legal fields, which also advises professionals in other sectors. It offers free, anonymous and confidential rapid HIV testing in oral fluid, psychological accompaniment, mutual aid and legal support. Through its education programme, including the Divèrsia plan, it runs workshops and produces materials for students, teachers and families aimed at eradicating LGTBphobia in Valencian classrooms. The collective also organises and participates in Valencia's LGTBIQ+ Pride march and engages in public advocacy, including complaints to the Síndic de Greuges (the Valencian ombudsman) over restrictions on the right of assembly. Over the decades Lambda has changed its name and organisational model several times. It began as the Col·lectiu Lambda de Gais i Lesbianes del P.V. in 1986, and in 2012 it was declared Lambda, Col·lectiu de Lesbianes, Gais, Transsexuals i Bisexuals. It has been a member of federations and networks including FELGTB, ILGA, CALCSICOVA, CESIDA and various Valencian social platforms, and it has collaboration agreements with bodies such as the Valencian Youth Council and the main trade unions in the region. It is funded partly through donations, including via Bizum, and through its public service roles, such as managing the Generalitat Valenciana's LGTBI office, Orienta. As of the 2020s Lambda continues to be an active civil-society organisation in Valencia, marking more than 40 years of LGTBI+ rights activism in the region. Its work spans health, education, legal advice, psychological support and public denunciation of discrimination, trafficking and violence affecting LGTBIQ+ people.

The origins of Lambda lie in the Valencian gay and lesbian liberation movement that began to organise in the late 1970s. In 1977 a platform called the Moviment d'Alliberament Sexual del País Valencià (MAS-PV) emerged, advocating better sexual information and arguing that a society is freer the more diverse its sexuality is. Because such associations were illegal at the time, more direct work in this field was impossible. From 1980, the first gay and lesbian associations were legally created in Spain. That year the MAS-PV split, with the Kol·lectiu per l'Alliberament Sexual (KAS), involving activists such as Rampova and Encarnita Duclown, and transformed into the Moviment d'Alliberament Gai del País Valencià (MAG-PV), which coordinated with other gay and lesbian liberation movements across Spain. After the dissolution of the MAG-PV, a new association appeared in 1986 called the Col·lectiu Lambda de Gais i Lesbianes del P.V., motivated by the legal discrimination and social marginalisation suffered by people with non-normative sexual orientations. Lambda was founded on 25 September 1986 in the Valencian Community. Its creation responded to the situation of legal discrimination and social marginalisation faced by homosexual, bisexual and transsexual people. The collective began its activity by generating spaces for meeting and debate on freedom and sexual diversity; these consisted of exchanges of ideas around a talk, a film or a book, which also served a socialising function for those attending. The collective published the magazine Papers Gais and was close to the programme La Pinteta Rebel (1984–1993) on Ràdio Klara. Lambda's initial stage lacked a defined and stable line of work. These were times of organisational precariousness, with scarce resources and infrastructure. It was not until 1992 that Lambda had its own premises, a fact that facilitated its continuity and broadened the field of action of its projects. In 1994 it decided to emphasise its political and vindicative character. A more structured organisational model was adopted, allowing greater participation and involvement of volunteers in the associative movement in order to respond to the needs of the LGTB community. From that time, groups and commissions remained active units of work until 2009, when the current structure of Groups, Spaces, Services and Projects was implemented, seeking to respond to the new needs of the LGTB community. Over time the association has been known by different names, until in 2012 it was declared Lambda, Col·lectiu de Lesbianes, Gais, Transsexuals i Bisexuals. From its beginnings to the present, Lambda and all LGTB associations in Spain have achieved important victories such as the approval of equal marriage in 2005 and the gender identity law in 2007. In the 2020s Lambda continues to operate as a Valencian LGTBIQ+ collective, describing itself as having spent 40 years fighting for the rights of LGTBI+ people in Valencia. It runs the Orienta service, which it describes as the LGTBI office of the Generalitat Valenciana managed by Lambda, offering free psychological, emotional and legal accompaniment to victims of discrimination and violence. It also carries out public advocacy, for example filing a complaint with the Síndic de Greuges of the Valencian Community over what it considered a limitation of the effective exercise of the fundamental right of assembly during Valencia's LGTBIAQ+ Pride, and issuing public statements condemning networks of sexual exploitation of trans people.

• 2012

  The association is declared Lambda, Col·lectiu de Lesbianes, Gais, Transsexuals i Bisexuals.

• 2009

  Lambda implements its current structure of Groups, Spaces, Services and Projects.

• 2007

  Spain's gender identity law is approved.

• 2005

  Equal marriage is approved in Spain, a victory cited among those achieved by Lambda and Spanish LGTB associations.

• 1994

  Lambda adopts a more structured organisational model emphasising its political and vindicative character.

• 1992

  Lambda obtains its own premises, facilitating continuity and expanding its projects.

• 1986

  Lambda is founded on 25 September as the Col·lectiu Lambda de Gais i Lesbianes del P.V.

• 1980

  MAS-PV splits; Kol·lectiu per l'Alliberament Sexual (KAS) appears and MAS-PV transforms into MAG-PV.

• 1977

  Moviment d'Alliberament Sexual del País Valencià (MAS-PV) emerges as an early Valencian sexual liberation platform.

A Valencian LGTBIQ+ civil-society collective combining direct health, psychological and legal services with public advocacy and education for sexual, gender and family diversity.

• Orienta

  Integral advice and support service for the LGTBI+ collective and their close ones, staffed by multidisciplinary social, psychological and legal professionals; described as the LGTBI office of the Generalitat Valenciana managed by Lambda.

• Prova Ràpida VIH

  Free, anonymous and confidential rapid HIV testing in oral fluid offered to the LGTB population.

• Divèrsia

  Training and awareness programme on sexual, gender and family diversity aimed at families, students, teachers and society, with workshops adapted to each educational level.

• Papers Gais

  Magazine edited by the collective in its early period.

1. 1LambdaValencia | Col·lectiu LGTB+ per la diversitat sexual, de gènere i familiarlambdavalencia.org
2. 2Educació - Lambda Valencialambdavalencia.org
3. 3COMUNICAT sobre la desarticulació de la xarxa de tracta de persones trans a València - Lambda Valencialambdavalencia.org
4. 4Denunciem davant el Síndic de Greuges la limitació del dret de manifestació per falta d'informació sobre les obres del carrer de Colom - Lambda Valencialambdavalencia.org
5. 5Lambda (colectivo) - Wikipediaes.wikipedia.org
6. 6Lambda Collective of Lesbians, Gays and Transsexuals - Wikidatawikidata.org