• Colectivo de Lesbianas, Gays, Transexuales y Bisexuales de Madrid (COGAM) ~ Madrid LGBT Collective •
Spain’s Colectivo de Lesbianas, Gays, Transexuales y Bisexuales de Madrid (COGAM, or ‘Madrid LGBT Collective’) is a non-governmental organisation founded by gay rights activists in Madrid in 1986 that has been working for more than three decades in the greater Madrid metropolitan area in defense of LGBT rights and for the equality of all people, regardless of their sexual orientation or identity.
COGAM began its work as the Colectivo Gay de Madrid, focusing on providing free HIV screening and public medical assistance and psychological counseling to individuals testing zero-positive for the HIV virus, expanding its work almost immediately to include advocating for an end to discrimination against people with HIV. In the 1990s, COGAM’s focus further expanded as the organisation began developing developed educational and outreach progammes to help raise public awareness and draw attention to the diversity of the LGBT community, advocating for social and legal equality of LGBT people and to prevent discrimination against anyone on the basis of their sexuality identity, orientation or appearance.
As one of the founding organisations of Spain’s national FELGTB (Federación Estatal de Lesbianas, Gais, Transexuales y Bisexuales, or ‘National Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals’), COGAM was one of the leading advocates for the principle of equal marriage in Spain, convening the first rally demanding the right to same-sex marriage in 1996 and spearheading efforts that led to Spain’s becoming in 2005 the fourth nation worldwide to legalize marriage between individuals, with the first same-sex marriage in Spain performed between a gay couple in Madrid in July 2006.
Located in Madrid’s Chueca neighborhood, COGAM has more than 500 members and its work is carried out by staff and volunteers, with funding provided through donations, gifts and contributions by individuals and organisations, including support from the Madrid city government and the regional government of the Community of Madrid. On 30th September 2016, the organisation celebrated its 30th anniversary of service to the lesbian, gay, transsexual and bisexual community of the greater Madrid urban area.
► You can follow and learn more about COGAM at the following links online:
► Read Progressive Spain news coverage of LGBT issues, here …
Updated as of 10/2016
