Volmar Santos, founder of Grêmio’s Coligay, Brazil’s first LGBTQIAPN+ fan group, dies aged 77 | OneFootball

Volmar Santos, founder of Grêmio’s Coligay, Brazil’s first LGBTQIAPN+ fan group, has died aged 77 in Passo Fundo. According to Globo.com, he passed away on Monday morning while receiving treatment for health problems.

The wake will begin at 15:30 at the chapel of the Vera Cruz cemetery, with burial set for 9:00 on Tuesday.

A musician, carnival organiser, social columnist, radio presenter and football lover, Santos gained prominence in 1977 by creating Coligay.

Seeking livelier stands at the Estádio Olímpico, then Grêmio’s home, he gathered friends and patrons of the gay nightclub Coliseu to form the group.

Their first appearance came in April 1977, during the Campeonato Gaúcho win over Santa Cruz, when some fellow Grêmio fans tried to attack them and police intervened.

Seen as a lucky charm, Coligay backed Grêmio’s 1977 state title campaign that ended Inter’s dominance. They were also invited by Vicente Matheus to support Corinthians that year, when the club ended a 23-year trophy drought.

The group ceased activities in 1983 as Santos returned to Passo Fundo to care for his mother, yet it left a pioneering mark during the military dictatorship.

In 2023, Grêmio honoured Santos with a shirt and a captain’s armband in LGBTQIAPN+ colours, and later lamented his death online.

Coligay has been chronicled in Léo Gerchmann’s book "Coligay, tricolor e de todas as cores" and in the documentary "Por que essa torcida mete medo em quem odeia gays", released by Peleja Media in September 2025.

Source: Globo.com