This cultural movement, celebrating Lesbian Visibility Day, focuses on all individuals making another queer Valencia possible, offering a space for cultural development and enjoyment for the sapphic community.
The cinema initiative Palomitas Lesbianas, the collective Cercle Sàfic, and the specialized bookstore Contexto Queer have joined forces to raise their voices together. Their projects aim to build community and create spaces where queer and dissident individuals can coexist and learn from each other.
In the heart of Benimaclet, Palomitas Lesbianas proposes a lesbian film series focused on FLINTA individuals (women, lesbians, intersex, non-binary, trans, and agender). This self-managed series is born from the desire to create meeting spaces away from consumption, building community around cinema as a tool to tell stories and generate dialogue.
“"To create community, it is important to have safe spaces where we can share experiences with similar people. After all, we experience common violences and situations, and it is easy to create understanding among us; simply by sharing, we can feel relieved and accompanied. But it shouldn't all be about that; there must also be spaces to enjoy leisure, form bonds, and share successes and joys in a relaxed manner without burdens or responsibilities."
The collective Cercle Sàfic, for its part, explains that its activities also seek to create alcohol-free spaces, away from the commercialization of queer culture by nightlife. Their philosophy is based on the values of intersectionality and active listening to build a network among members of the community.
The bookstore Contexto Queer, also located in Benimaclet, is dedicated to concentrating queer literature in one space. Its director thanks the neighborhood for its welcome and the camaraderie with neighboring bookstores, emphasizing that their catalog is very specific and that the bookstore functions as a space where community can be generated, regardless of book purchases.
Despite the recent increase in sapphic spaces in Valencia, collectives highlight the economic precariousness that prevents them from having a fixed headquarters, forcing them to collaborate with different spaces. However, they firmly believe in the importance of having exclusively queer physical locations to carry out activities aimed at the community without them being nightlife venues.
