TRANSBARCELONAS

the long version

The decade of the 1970s in Spain was colonized by the official discourse of the Transition, by political change, and by the construction of democracy. Like all processes of colonization, it was destructive and deceptive: the trans reality was as ignored as it was marginalized. Barcelona became a center for trans culture, not only in its nightspots, but also in its movie theaters and in its streets. The Spanish Transition was trans for many reasons, and Barcelona, which failed to conform to political and cultural initiatives that replicated reformist discourse, was trans as it had never been before, nor would be again. This study examines representations of transsexuality and transvestism in Barcelona during this period, contextualizing some of the most radical climaxes of the 20th century.