Gays in Cuba seeing progress

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Miami Herald

Gays in Cuba seeing progress
Posted on Sun, May. 18, 2008
BY ANDREA RODRIGUEZ
Associated Press

HAVANA -- Cuba's gay community celebrated unprecedented openness -- and high-ranking political alliances -- with a government-backed campaign against homophobia on Saturday.

The meeting at a convention center in Havana's Vedado district may have been the largest gathering of openly gay activists ever on the communist-run island. President Raúl Castro's daughter Mariela, who has promoted the rights of sexual minorities, presided.

''This is a very important moment for us, the men and women of Cuba, because for the first time we can gather in this way and speak profoundly and with scientific basis about these topics,'' said Castro, director of Cuba's Center for Sexual Education.

Mariela Castro joined government leaders and hundreds of activists at the one-day conference for the International Day Against Homophobia that featured shows, lectures, panel discussions and tests for sexually transmitted diseases.

Cuban state television gave prime-time play Friday to the U.S. film BrokebackMountain, about two cowboys who conceal their affair.



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/537592.html

[Doctor Cynic]

1. Was Fidel present?

[bitchkitty]

2. That's an awfully silly question.

Whether it was a joke or not. This is pretty damned groundbreaking, especially if you're gay. I'm not gay, but I'm certainly a "friend of the family" and I'm very happy to know that my brothers and sisters in Cuba are getting the attention they deserve.

[Judi Lynn]

3. He probably knows about it since his neice is the major well-known gay rights activist. n/t

[Spouting Horn]

5. El Comandante

has never been too friendly towards gays.

I guess these recent "openings" has come because of Raul, not Fidel.

[Better Believe It]

6. Can You Offer Some Evidence/Links To Back Up That Claim

Fidel Castro "has never been too friendly towards gays."

People and attitudes change over time. If Fidel opposed this move he's not at all shy and would speak out. I think that Fidel and his brother are on the same wavelength in this regard.

But, if you have any evidence that Fidel is or was paranoid over Gay people please present it.

[Dogmudgeon]

7. Fidel's anti-gay attitude was not a secret

Harper's published a letter in 1998, from Fred Phelps, praising Castro for his anti-gay policies. Type "Castro Phelps Gay" into Google.

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-6530.html">Here's a brief posting from Pink News via http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2008/01/conference-discusses-fidels-attitude-to.html">GayBlog:

Yesterday in Madrid a two-day discussion on homosexuality in Cuba and the repression that sexual minorities had undergone because of the island's communist regime began.

Sexual diversity was seen by Fidel Castro as a corrupt consequence of capitalism.

...

"Che and his ideal of the new man was the ideal of the macho man, which rejects everything that has gathered us here," Valdes said.

...

Gays were incarcerated in Military Units to Aid Production (UMAPs) between 1965 and 1968.

Castro believed that hard work would rid the men of their counter-revolutionary tendencies.

...

I certainly don't hold with the idea that Castro was Satan's representative on Earth, but he wasn't Mr. Wonderful, either. I don't understand the adulation a lot of leftists have for him, and Guevara, and Hugo Chavez in this era. If nothing else, we ought to learn from their mistakes.

--p!

[Judi Lynn]

8. People have passed on a lot of disinformation on every subject, Cuba gets more crap than most, due

to wild imaginations left over from the Cold War years and the unchecked aggression on every country with citizens who didn't want to be brutally exploited for cheap change by the U.S.

Here's an interview with Castro from 1992 from a gay Mexican publication:

Fidel Castro on Homosexuality

Excerpted from Face to Face with Fidel Castro: A Conversation with Tomas Borge, Ocean Press, 1992, 139-141.

Tomas Borge: What is your view of homosexuality?

Fidel Castro: There is still machismo in our people. I believe a much lower level than any other people in Latin America, but there is still machismo. That has been part of the idiosyncrasy of our people for centuries. I won't deny that, at a certain time, this machista thing influenced the attitude toward homosexuality. I, personally, do not suffer from that sort of phobia against homosexuals. I have never been in favor of, nor promoted, nor supported policy against homosexuals. That corresponded, I would say, to a particular stage and is very much associated with that legacy, with machismo.

Tomas Borge: Many people think that their is sexual discrimination in Cuba. What are your views on homosexuality..?

Fidel Castro: We inherited male chauvinism-and many other bad habits-from the conquistadores. That was an historical legacy..We have made a real advance-we can see it, especially in the young people, but we can't say that sexual discrimination has been completely wiped out and we mustn't lower our guard...

For example, men's and women's conduct was judged by different standards. We had that for years in the Party, and I waged battles and argued a lot about it. If a man was unfaithful, it didn't constitute a problem or a worry, but if a woman was unfaithful, that became the subject of discussion in the Party nucleus. There was a double standard for judging the sexual relations of men and women. I had to fight hard, very hard, against those deep-rooted prejudices. There wasn't any doctrine or education in this regard, instead, there were many male chauvinist concepts and prejudices in our society...

I am not going to deny that, at one point, male chauvinism also influenced our attitude toward homosexuality. I, myself, you're asking me for my own opinion-don't have any phobia toward homosexuals. I've never felt that phobia and I've never promoted or supported policies against homosexuals I would say that it corresponded to a given stage and is largely associated with that legacy of chauvinism. I try to have a more humane, scientific approach to the problem. Often, it becomes a tragedy, because of what the parents think-some parents whose son is homosexual turn it into a tragedy. It's really too bad they react this way and make it a tragedy for the individual, as well.

I don't consider homosexuality to be a phenomenon of degeneration. I've always had a more rational approach, considering it to be one of the natural aspects and tendencies of human beings which should be respected...It would be good if the families themselves had another mentality, another approach, when a circumstance of this nature occurs. I am absolutely opposed to any form of repression, contempt, scorn, or discrimination with regard to homosexuals. That's what I think.

Tomado de: http://www.utexas.edu/students/alliance/gaycuba.html

Reprinted at:
http://www.gaymexico.com.mx/articuloanterior/cuba.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attempting to drag Che Guevara into any conversation about Cuba's official position on gays and lesbians is pointless as he had been assassinated in Bolivia well before there was any official position on gays whatsoever.

Take the time to research the subject rather than assuming one or two rumors you've heard give you an accurate understanding.

[np33]

11. You do have to take into

account the time period. How many American politicians during the 60's were supporting gay rights?

[Athelwulf]

4. That's wonderful!

The conservatives would have you believe gay rights = communism, yet Cuba evidently has had to open up in the field of gay rights. Very funny, no?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

9. go cuba. first the education and health care then the gay rights

[trickyguy]

10. Congratulation to Mariela and all the very brave gays and lesbians of Cuba. It's an uphill battle.

This openness is a much needed and important step to gaining respect in Cuban society.

And it is even more important when you look at the repression of gays and lesbians in that country.

And, wow, they showed Brokeback Mountain. Another giant step in building awarness among all peoples.

This campaign against homophobia is a good start. But don't forget it's a life-long process.

We still have some pretty rampant homophobia right here in freedom-loving USA. It ain't gone yet.

But this news is really heartening. O8)

[roody]

12. Mariela has been working on this a lot longer

than Fidel has been ill.

[IndianaGreen]

13. Sex reassignment surgery is free to transgenders in Cuba

Despite the Latino culture of machismo, Cuba has the US beat when it comes to LGBT rights.

Some at the conference spoke of streaming out into the streets for a spontaneous gay-pride parade, but others urged caution.

The gay rights movement should be careful not to “flood” Cuban society with a message that many are not ready to hear, physician and gay activist Alberto Roque cautioned.

And Mariela Castro said gay activists should opt for more subtle ways to chip away at deep-seated homophobic attitudes.

Defending equal rights for Cubans, of all sexual orientations, is a key principal of the Cuban revolution led by her uncle Fidel Castro, who overthrew dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959, she said.

“The freedom of sexual choice and gender identity (are) exercises in equality and social justice,” she said.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/18/9042/