• The objective is to raise awareness among the local population about the situation of people from the LGTBIQ+ community.

With this declaration of intent, the Wazoo Cop cooperative – a non-profit social entity located in Almendralejo (Badajoz, Extremadura) – champions the “Rural Pride” project. To promote equal opportunities, participation, and the presence of LGBTQI+ people in the social, economic, cultural, and employment life of rural society in Badajoz, and especially in Sierra Grande-Tierra de Barros.

Thus, the project is limited to Law 12/2015, of April 8, of the Regional Government of Extremadura, according to which "Extremadura's LGBTI law must take into account the particular difficulty of recognizing and accepting oneself as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, or intersex in a small town, that is, in any of our villages."

Pillars

The initiative will have 5 instruments:

1. Platform: Launch of the RURAL PRIDE project website , which explores the reality and challenges of the LGBTQ+ community in Sierra Grande-Tierra de Barros.
2. Survey: Research on the status of LGBTQ+ rights in Sierra Grande-Tierra de Barros. You can participate here .
3. Seminars: talks on the survey results , as well as on the reality and challenges facing the community in the region.
4. Podcasts: dialogues and interviews based on the project's results and its implementation.
5. Publication: The results of the survey on the LGBTI+ reality in Sierra Grande-Tierra de Barros will be published to raise awareness of the community's reality.

Who does the project aim to involve?

• To the rural LGTBIQ+ community : LGTBIQ+ people residing in the municipalities of Sierra Grande-Tierra de Barros.
• Associative Network : non-profit organizations that develop actions and activities that promote equal opportunities and respect for diversity, from the municipalities of Sierra Grande-Tierra de Barros.
• Local administration : Town councils, Local Action Groups (LAGs) and institutions belonging to the 19 municipalities and the three smaller entities of Sierra Grande-Tierra de Barros.
• General population : to the residents of Sierra Grande-Tierra de Barros.

Wazoo Cop

The Wazoo Cop cooperative has laid the legal foundations for a previously nonexistent and unrecognized entity in Extremadura: the non-profit social cooperative . Thus, this cooperative transformed from a worker-owned cooperative into a social initiative cooperative, becoming the first of its kind in the Extremadura region.

In 2020, its president, Marta Lozano, was named one of the "100 Women Leaders in Cooperatives" internationally by She-Coops (Nigeria), the global organization advocating for women in cooperatives. This recognition has earned her a place on the Rural Youth Thematic Group created by the National Rural Youth Network (NRN).