gay rights in socialist/communist countries

[Red October]

i saw the thread about the nepali maoists discriminating against homozexuals, and i was wondering how gays and lesbians have been treated by other communist movements and governments. i dont mean just empty laws saying they're equal, but real action on the part of these governments. a friend told me that in cuba they set up special camps for homosexuals and transgendered people, though i'm not sure about the veracity of this.

[Janus]

i dont mean just empty laws saying they're equal, but real action on the part of these governments
Homosexuality was never really a big issue in the old socialist government because few people "came out" or really discussed it.

I don't know about the Nepali case though I don't think there are many homosexuals in Nepal at all.


a friend told me that in cuba they set up special camps for homosexuals and transgendered people, though i'm not sure about the veracity of this.
I don't know about transgenedered people but in the 1980's, the Cuban gov. did set up special camps for homosexuals and former army people because of the AIDS scare which soldiers from Angola had brought back.

[The Feral Underclass]

Originally posted by [email protected] 08, 2007 08:21 am
I don't think there are many homosexuals in Nepal at all.
Why would you say that? It's estimated that 1 in 10 people are gay, so that would make at least 10% of the Nepalese population gay.

Don't mistake fear of coming out as an indication that homosexuality doesn't exist. Of course it does, it just means people don't talk about for obvious reasons.

[Dimentio]

Most communist parties in the third world are conservative because they are "national liberation movements".

[Cheung Mo]

That bothers me: I'm extremely libertine and view social and religious conservatism as being intolerable...I couldn't work with them no matter what economic system they supported implementing.

[cb9's_unity]

I've heard that Castro suppresed homosexuals relentlessly because he saw them as dissidents to society or something like that. I heard it got better since cuban doctors told castro homosexuality wasn't a choice but had to do with genetics. I read this on a liberal site so i don't know how credible it is.

[Red_Man]

Why would you say that? It's estimated that 1 in 10 people are gay, so that would make at least 10% of the Nepalese population gay.

The 10% figure is considered to be extremely overgenerous. It was essentially created by a single man who used poor polling tactics (such as going to known gay communities) back in the 30's and 40's, but his work was so extensive that for decades no one questioned it and the 10% stuck in. It is held on to strongly now by gay rights advocates because a number in the double digits looks much more significant that one in the single digits to politicians. (Which, in my opinion, shows how poor the system is, since even if a single person is oppressed, the politicians should care) Now that we have better polling procedures, it is estimated to be anywhere from 1-2%. Also, even if the 10% figure were correct, that wouldn't mean at least 10% of any given population is gay. At best, it means you would expect to find about 1 in 10 people were gay.

[TC]

Originally posted by Red October [email protected] 06, 2007 03:05 am
a friend told me that in cuba they set up special camps for homosexuals and transgendered people, though i'm not sure about the veracity of this.
No, your friend is mistaken, this is a topic thats been gone over several times; there are no anti-gay or transgendered laws in cuba and the cuban government consistently opposes homophobia and machismo chauvenism and discrimination.

If nepali Maoists actually oppose homosexuality, which, must be pointed out, has only been reported by a single source (all of the references in the news seem to come from the same NGO) and has not been confirmed by the nepali maoists themselves so it may be inaccurate; they would be a rare exception not a rule amoung both socialist states and maoist guerrilla movements and especially odd as they previously collaborated with gay rights organizations and their maoist comrades in the New People's Army have made supporting gay rights a prominant part of their public relations/propaganda.

[bezdomni]

If the CPN(M) does have this line, it will probably be corrected either internally or by the RIM.

[Red Rebel]

It was illegal in the USSR.

I know more about Cuba.

Fidel Castro on homosexuality (http://www.ratb.org.uk/html/cspeaks/face_to_face.html)
Gay Rights in Cuba (http://www.ratb.org.uk/frfi/181_gay.html)


...
In 1993 sex education workshops on homo- sexuality were run throughout Cuba to explain that homophobia is a prejudice.
...
In the same year Strawberry and Chocolate, the first Cuban film to deal openly with homosexuality, was hugely popular in Cuba, It was the only film funded by the government that year.

In 1995 the May Day march, one of the most important events in the social and political calendar, was led by drag queens who were cheered along the whole route. Imagine trannies at the state opening of parliament or Trooping the Colour. Only one queen at those. And she doesn't salsa.

In 1996 Pablo Milanes, a singer adored by his fellow Cubans, who had himself been incarcerated in a UMAP in the 1960s, dedicated a song about gay men to all Cuban homosexuals. Recently a play produced by El Teatro Sotano ran in Vedado entitled Muerte en el bosque (A Death in the Woods). Based on the investigation of the murder of a Havana drag queen, through the investigation of the crime, Cuban attitudes towards and prejudices against gays are examined and challenged at every level of society. In December 2000, at the film festival in Havana, easily half of the Latin American films shown had gay themes.

[Viva-La-Revolution]

About the 10% being gay Statistic there is also a statistic that says 4 out of 5 statistics are wrong :D

[Cheung Mo]

Just out of curiosity, what is the situation in Venezuela? My understanding of Chavez is that he opposes marriage rights-- in spite of pressure from a sizable proportion of his allies to change that line -- but that rights for sexual and gender minorities have improved dramatically under Chavez regardless.

[Dimentio]

Originally posted by Cheung [email protected] 08, 2007 06:03 pm
That bothers me: I'm extremely libertine and view social and religious conservatism as being intolerable...I couldn't work with them no matter what economic system they supported implementing.
That is a dilemma for modern socialists.

who should you support, Alexandr Lukashenko who is an authoritarian homophobe who is loved by his people for pursuing socialism, or the western supported rainbow NGO;s who wants to create a new Lithuania.

[Janus]

Why would you say that? It's estimated that 1 in 10 people are gay, so that would make at least 10% of the Nepalese population gay.

Don't mistake fear of coming out as an indication that homosexuality doesn't exist. Of course it does, it just means people don't talk about for obvious reasons.
I meant open homsexuals. Obviously in a backward society like Nepal, where homosexuality is quite taboo, the gay community is repressed and "coming out" is a very recent phenomenon.

[Cheung Mo]

Originally posted by Serpent+January 09, 2007 02:18 pm--> (Serpent @ January 09, 2007 02:18 pm)
Cheung [email protected] 08, 2007 06:03 pm
That bothers me: I'm extremely libertine and view social and religious conservatism as being intolerable...I couldn't work with them no matter what economic system they supported implementing.
That is a dilemma for modern socialists.

who should you support, Alexandr Lukashenko who is an authoritarian homophobe who is loved by his people for pursuing socialism, or the western supported rainbow NGO;s who wants to create a new Lithuania. [/b]
Why are there still people on the left who insist on equating Lukashenko with Chavez?

Lukashenko is an authoritarian tyrant who rigs elections, suppresses human rights, and supports the re-Stalinisation and Russification of Belarus.