Being gay in cuba

Is Cuba becoming a haven for LGBT rights?

Havana, Cuba – Walking down the Malecon, Havana’s broad coastal esplanade that runs past extravagant hotels built when Cuba was the playground of the United States’ upper class, one can occasionally watch a same-sex couple holding hands or stealing a kiss.

Cuba, the socialist island nation and Cold War foe of the US, has made attempts to present itself as a Latin American bastion for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual (LGBT) individuals in the past decade.

Cuba’s constitution bans “any form of discrimination harmful to human dignity”, and gender reassignment surgeries possess been available under its national healthcare, free of charge, since

It wasn’t always this way.

At the beginning of Cuba’s socialist revolution, Fidel Castro’s regime actively repressed LGBT Cubans, even sending them to prisons and work camps.

Since , however, there has been a gradual modify in Cuban policy towards the LGBT community.

In , former president Fidel Castro went as far as to admit blame for the discrimination that LGB

Learning about Cuba’s LGBTQ+ Community

People with signs during La Conga en contra de la Homofobia y Transfobia in La Habana, Cuba, May

Cuba&#;s held a fascination for me ever since I was in high school in Puerto Rico. I explored the food, music and art of the neighboring island, quite abundant in my homeland, but always knew that different perspectives and adventures could only be experienced in Cuba itself. I never imagined that 15 years later, I would be able to visit, conduct research for my doctoral dissertation in Social Work at Simmons University, and develop lifelong friendships.

My book, The LGBT Cuban Revolution (Deletrea ), emerges from my analyze, visits to Cuba and personal experiences, examining the LGBTQ+ movement in Cuba since the beginning of the Castro-led Revolution. I was curious about how this type of government and revolution affected the LGBTQ+ community. I wanted to focus solely on the experiences of the LGBTQ+ community living in Cuba, hence I only included the perspectives of those “who stayed.” Many, if not all, previous books and projects hold

Since the Cuban Revolution of , the island nation has received low scores in many human rights indices for reported assaults on freedom of speech, expression, religion, and basic due process. Outside of these violations, historians regard the s as an even more repressive decade for one Cuban group in particular: the country’s homosexual population. Indeed this organization has only recently witnessed an opening of civil liberties for them. While the record of their treatment today is certainly not perfect, there are clear signs of a gradual but serious shift from Cuba’s previously anti-LGBT policies to a modern tendency of equal treatment and respect for all sexual orientations.

Even in pre-Revolutionary Cuba, the island’s society relegated the homosexual people to the rare LGBT-friendly bars in Cuban cities. Moreover, strict laws criminalized homosexuality and targeted gay men in particular for harassment. In the s, Cuba enacted the Public Ostentation Commandment, which encouraged the harassment of LGBTs who refused to hide their orientation.¹ At this period, Cuba’s legislation tow

Cuba overwhelmingly approves same-sex marriage in referendum

Cubans have overwhelmingly approved a sweeping “family law” that would permit same-sex couples to commit and adopt, the electoral commission said, in a move that will also redefine rights for children and grandparents.

More than million voters – percent – voted to ratify the new code while million or 33 percent were opposed, National Electoral Council President Alina Balseiro Gutierrez said on state-run television on Monday.

Photos: Young Cuban baseball players dream of US major leagues

list 2 of 3

Third fuel tank collapses as fire rages at Cuba oil terminal

list 3 of 3

Cuba brings oil depot fire under control after five-day blaze

end of list

The page “family code” legalises same-sex marriage and civil unions, allows same-sex couples to adopt children, and promotes equivalent sharing of domestic rights and responsibilities between men and women.