Cuba Holds Anti-Homophobia Rally

[Red October]

(Associated Press)
HAVANA (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Havana) — Cuba (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/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 Raul Castro (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Raul+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 (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Cuba%27s+Center+for+Sexual) Education.
Mariela Castro (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/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 book presentations.
A station also offered blood-tests for sexually transmitted diseases.
Cuban state television gave prime-time play Friday to the U.S. (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/United+States) film "Brokeback Mountain," which tells the story of two cowboys who conceal their homosexual affair.
Prejudice against homosexuals remains deeply rooted in Cuban society, but the government has steadily moved away from the Puritanism of the 1960s and 1970s, when homosexuals hid their sexuality for fear of being ridiculed, fired from work or even imprisoned.
Now Cuba's parliament is studying proposals to legalize same-sex unions and give gay couples the benefits that people in traditional marriages enjoy.
Parliament head Ricardo Alarcon (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Ricardo+Alarcon) said the government needs to do more to promote gay rights, but said many Cubans still need to be convinced.
Things "are advancing, but must continue advancing, and I think we should do that in a coherent, appropriate and precise way because these are topics that have been taboo and continue to be for many," Alarcon told reporters.
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 (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/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 (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Fidel+Castro), who overthrew dictator Fulgencio Batista (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Fulgencio+Batista) in 1959, she said.
"The freedom of sexual choice and gender identity (are) exercises in equality and social justice," she said.


I think it's very encouraging that Cuba is taking such a progressive position on homosexuality, given it's past attitudes towards it. This is a far more progressive position than most other governments in the world.

Discuss!

[Ultra-Violence]

Fucking Awsome! Were else in the wolrld do you see "goverments" Do stuff like this keep on rockin cuba!

[cenv]

This is super cool. There have been a lot of rumors about homophobia in Cuba -- hopefully this clears things up. It's really nice to see the Cuban government being proactive about social change. Hopefully this is an ongoing trend.

[mykittyhasaboner]

thats really good, im relieved to see that cuban citizens do not have to live in hiding, simply because of a personal choice. and excuse my ignorance on the subject, but what has the government in cuba done to be homophobic in the first place?

[gla22]

Raul is going to be great for Cuba. He was always more of an intellectual and a socialist than Fidel.

[redSHARP]

fucking awesome news!

but more importantly, is why did this happen and what can we do to have this exported around the world?

[abrupt]

thats really good, im relieved to see that cuban citizens do not have to live in hiding, simply because of a personal choice. and excuse my ignorance on the subject, but what has the government in cuba done to be homophobic in the first place?

During the Cuban liberation, a guerilla fighter that was openly homosexual felt quite discriminated against. And I believe Fidel did not care for homosexuals at all in the begining.

Also I heard about a gay Cuban writer, from what I know he was a capitalist and felt a lot of hatred toward him because of his orientation.

Those are the single cases I hear, I think the media just have blown a lot of it out of proportion when they felt the need to.

It's great Cuba is taking these steps though.

[BobKKKindle$]

This is a progressive step, and other governments should recognize that Cuba has adopted a progressive position in the treatment of homosexuals, and take similar measures to ensure that homosexuals do not feel the need to hide the way they feel. Before 1992 homosexuality was illegal and treated as a product of capitalist decadence, but now homosexuality has become more widely accepted, and Cuba has produced several films which deal with the topic of homosexuality - for example, Strawberry and Chocolate which was given the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film in 1995.

[BIG BROTHER]

its nice that they won't be harrased or discriminated anymore.

[Dominicana_1965]

Cuba has also presented homosexual soap operas on TV before and homosexual films have been produced since the mid-90s. In regards to sexuality, any Cuban is allowed to have a completely free of charge sex change. One of the most amazing aspect of socialist Cuba is that much of these films are promoted by the locally working-class administered Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (which demonstrates that Cuba is at least more socially progressive than most homophobic nations). Songs have also been dedicated by Nova Trova singers to homosexual males.

Comrade Abrupt is referring to the reactionary self-exiled Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas. Who later had a film based on him called "Before Night Falls" in 2001. A film which attacks the Cuban Revolution endlessly, aside from its view of Cuban homophobic history.

In 2001 a homosexual male by the name of Larry Oberg traveled to Cuba and found that what Arenas had claimed in his book was quite the contrary of reality for homosexuals in Cuba (what a surprise! :lol:). There isn't any homophobic repression by the Cuban state, as claimed by many homosexuals in Cuba themselves and no laws discriminate against people of various sexuality. Many homosexual couples walk freely in the streets, hand in hand. Of course, homophobia is a Worldwide social policing that opposes anything that isn't of the sexual "norm" so Cuba has its fair share of homophobes. One thing is for sure, if Cuba does have a "tragic" history against homosexuals (which is completely debateble) it has done much in the past decades to remove that needless discrimination unlike the majority of capitalist nations.