The mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Jose Manuel Bermudez, accompanied by the Councilor for Equality and Diversity, Davila Purification, inaugurated yesterday afternoon the layout of a new municipal space, in the presence of the veteran activist Marcela Rodriguez Acosta, which after a unanimous agreement of the LGTBI Municipal Council will be the name that designates this enclave in which groups and collectives will be able to debate, train and serve their users and share with all organizations.
The mayor emphasized that “not only are we setting up this center, a pioneer in Tenerife, and probably in the Canary Islands, but we are also giving it the name of someone who has represented in recent decades the fight for rights that, little by little, they are arriving “and added that” Marcela Rodríguez is one of the people who have verbalized this struggle, who has suffered firsthand the troubles of her transition, who has starred in acts, statements, initiatives for the benefit of a community that required more respect and tolerance and gaining space in a more just, diverse and egalitarian society ”.
For her part, the councilor for the area stated that “it is a space of its own for the LGTBI collective, which from today can begin to share, meet to interact and, as a goal, advance in the promotion of inclusion policies, promotion of diversity ”and announced that“ the premises will be multipurpose, so that all groups that have representation in the Equality Council have a place ”.
Finally, Bermúdez stressed that “there is still a long way to go, for sure; But a space like the one we open today will contribute to working on it and we do not lack an attitude, neither for this City Council, nor for the LGTBI community, represented by Marcela Rodríguez, a symbol whose struggle is reflected today for posterity ”and he concluded thanking “Marcela, on behalf of the citizens of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, for helping to make this capital a more tolerant and egalitarian city”.
Marcela Rodríguez said she had no words “for so many displays of affection.” He admitted that it was not until he saw the space that he realized the importance of making this meeting point available to the groups.
