Cuba Leading the Way in Rainbow Rights

[polly7]

By: Rachel Evans



Cuba will be holding a mass gay wedding as its main event for May 17 - the International Day of Action against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT).

Cuba will be holding a mass gay wedding as its main event for the annual lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) pride parade there on May 17 - the International Day of Action against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT). The event is organised by the National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX), which forms part of an awareness campaign aimed at eliminating prejudice, and granting full legal rights to Cuba’s LGBT couples.

The weddings will not be recognised by the Cuban government, because the revolutionary government has not passed marriage equality laws yet. While this needs to be rectified, Cuba is now a leading Latin America country on LGBT rights. A rainbow revolution is being led by Mariela Castro, daughter of feminist revolutionary Vilma Espin and current president Raul Castro.

Espin is internationally renowned. A sexologist by training, she edits Sexology and Society, a medical journal published in Cuba. In an interview in 2006 with Gail Reed, published in the journal Health and Medical News of Cuba: Espin says that CENESEX’s goals are to contribute towards, “the development of a culture of sexuality that is full, pleasurable and responsible, as well as to promote the full exercise of sexual rights.”

In reality, Cuba has been advancing a very consistently progressive sex and gender rights program. In 2007, Ricardo Alarcon, then president of Cuba’s National Assembly, stated at the assembly meeting, “We have to abolish any form of discrimination against homosexuality... Socialism should be a society that does not exclude anybody.” Homophobic laws began to be repealed in 1973, and by 2011, no mention of homosexuality exists in legislation. The first sex change operation to take place in Cuba was in 1988. Sex reassignment surgery, as part of public health care in Cuba was institutionalized on a large scale in 2008. Like all medical procedures in Cuba, it is free. Assisted reproductive technology for lesbian couples became available in 2008.

In Cuba, For May 17, all across the country, IDAHOT events have been organized. It is only a matter of time before Cuba catches up with Argentina, and legalizes same-sex marriage and adoption rights. In Cuba, homophobia in state policy and popular culture, is low compared to the rest of Latin America and the US. Indeed, thanks to the efforts of the LGBTQI community, CENESEX, and Mariela Castro, today Cuba is more advanced in rainbow rights than most countries in the global South and the US.

Full article: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Cuba-Leading-the-Way-in-Rainbow-Rights-20150515-0013.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Great step forward. Do you recall that Cuba was the first country to have a gay tv serial?

What's more, people all over the country watched it when it came on.

How many other Latin American countries have their own gay tv serial? I don't know of any others.

From Che to gay – Cuba’s awakening

With its old time cars and colonial cities, Cuba can seem stuck in a time warp. But with the Caribbean island’s relations with the US thawing now may be the time to visit before it changes forever.

Benedict Brook — February 9, 2015

THE announcement in December by US President Barack Obama that the country would start normalising relations with Cuba was a long time coming but nonetheless surprising.

Like two squabbling cousins who can’t quite remember what originally set them at odds, Cuba and the US seemed unable to let bygones be bygones. But now, it seems that whole messy business with the missiles is to be left to the history books.

The end of an era is coming and change is inevitable. No more will Canadians have a tropical getaway free of their southern cousins, while the aging 1950s American automobiles (there are said to be some 60,000 still gracing Cuba’s roads) will surely be replaced by efficient and economical hatchbacks. Perhaps now is the time to visit a country if not on the cusp of a political revolution then maybe an economic evolution.

One thing that has certainly evolved is Cuba’s attitude towards gay people. Homosexuality was legalised in 1979 – some 25 years before nearby Florida – and now the seaside capital of Havana boasts a small but energetic gay scene.

Drag is the daily bread at Fashion Bar while Humboldt 52 serves up a heady cocktail of white rum, Latin and western pop and same-sex salsa. In fact, this Caribbean country is increasingly becoming an LGBTI destination with Sydney travel agency Orange Journeys offering a nine-day tour that promises white sandy beaches, dinner under the stars in tobacco fields and even dancing lessons.

More:
http://www.starobserver.com.au/life-style/travel-life-style/from-che-to-gay-cubas-awakening/132214

[polly7]

2. Very interesting!

I had no idea Cuba was so far ahead of others with regard to gay rights. It kind of mucks up the stereo-type for a lot of people eh?

[Judi Lynn]

3. Cuba is a complete stand-out in the Western Hemisphere now on this issue, too.

We know where people got those stupid stereotypes, too! Created entirely through propaganda pulled right out of the bowels of the State Department's perception management industry. Years and years of hysterical gibberish created images only the slowest among us accepted without question. As a child, I accepted them, too. Luckily, as we grow up, we learn to think, and start asking questions!

Thanks for this thread!