Cuba to provide free sex-change

[spartan]

Cuba to provide free sex-change


http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44725000/jpg/_44725913_castro_bbc_226b.jpg
The president's daughter is a strong voice for gay and transsexual Cubans

Cuba has authorised sex-change operations and will offer them free to qualifying citizens, officials say.
The move is the latest in a series of policy changes implemented by President Raul Castro since he succeeded his elder brother, Fidel, in February.

Raul Castro's daughter, who heads the National Centre for Sex Education, spearheaded the changes in a country renowned for sexual conservatism.

So far 28 transsexuals in the country have requested the operation.

Vibrant and discreet
Last month, for only the second time, the Cuban authorities joined events to marking International Day against Homophobia.
Raul Castro's daughter, Mariela, has also pushed for the state to recognise same sex unions and inheritance rights.

If adopted the reforms would give Cuba the most liberal gay rights in Latin America, says the BBC's Michael Voss in Havana.

Since becoming Cuba's first new president since the 1959 revolution, Raul Castro has also done away with bans that kept most Cubans from owning mobile phones in their own names and renting hotel rooms and cars.

His government also has decentralised the floundering state agricultural sector, raised pensions and salaries for some state employees.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7441448.stm

[RHIZOMES]

Awesome!

if only all "communist" states had adopted such sexually liberating laws.

[Sharon den Adel]

Excellent news, if only all countries were like this one.

[BIG BROTHER]

Without wanting to ruin the moment and sounding too cynical, It seems weird to me that all of the sudden Cuba is doing all this actions to benefit the gay, transgender, etc community. Any reasons why?

[spartan]

Without wanting to ruin the moment and sounding too cynical, It seems weird to me that all of the sudden Cuba is doing all this actions to benefit the gay, transgender, etc community. Any reasons why?
Well the recently appointed President Raul Castro is the guy who is in charge and his daughter is well known for fighting for LGBT rights so perhaps she has had an influence on him?

[BIG BROTHER]

Well the recently appointed President Raul Castro is the guy who is in charge and his daughter is well known for fighting for LGBT rights so perhaps she has had an influence on him?

Then do you think, that when Fidel was in charge, he would have opposed that, or what?

But anyways, this is really good for all transgender persons in Cuba, they suffer a great deal to go through the process of sex change.

[gla22]

I really don't think this is the sort of thing government should be doing. Actual necessary health care yes. But sex changes, no. Whats next plastic surgery?:

[BobKKKindle$]

I really don't think this is the sort of thing government should be doing. Actual necessary health care yes. But sex changes, no. Whats next plastic surgery?:Why not? People who feel they have been born with the wrong set of sexual organs deserve the right to change sex. This role of the government is not solely to ensure that negative rights are protected, such as the right to freedom of speech, or the right to engage in sexual relations with anyone who gives consent, but also to provide positive rights (of which the right to sex change is an example) which enable people to develop themselves and their abilities. This is why education and healthcare are also considered rights in Cuba.

What is seen as "necessary" is inherently subjective - arguably it is not necessary for someone to receive a prosthetic limb if they lose an arm in an accident, because you can still live and move around without the aid of a prosthesis (although only with great difficulty) and yet the Cuban government still provides this kind of treatment because having a prosthesis is conducive to the happiness of people who have suffered the loss of mobility. In the same way, it is probably possible to live without having a sex change, but for people who feel they should have been born as the opposite sex, having a sex change is seen as necessary for these people to feel comfortable with themselves, and so the government has an obligation to provide this operation - even if it is not "necessary" in the same way as treatment to save someone's life.

[Devrim]

I think sex change surgery is provide free in the UK and many other EU countries, and also in places such as here in Turkey, and in Iran.

Devrim

[Joe Hill's Ghost]

Certainly a change from the old days. Guess Cuba needs to stay hip with the liberal solidarity activists. Kind of hard to get lefty help when you jail gays. Cuba's still a Stalinist craphole, but at least you get a free operation out of it. Something that still costs tens of thousands of dollars here in the states. Oh the hilarity of American health-care.

[BobKKKindle$]

Cuba's still a Stalinist craphole, but at least you get a free operation out of it.

Provide some evidence for this assertion? Cuba is currently holding only fifty eight prisoners of conscience (according to this (http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/good-news/cuba-releases-imprisoned-activists-20080218) Amnesty International report) many of whom have been found guilty of receiving funds from American organizations which aim to overthrow the Cuban state and restore capitalist property relations in Cuba. Given that Cuba has consistently faced attacks, in the form of armed invasions (the Playa Giron landing in 1961) and assassination attempts directed against Fidel Castro, the fact that the number of prisoners is so low is commendable.

Therefore, to describe Cuba as "stalinist" is incorrect.

[Joe Hill's Ghost]

Well you know, there's this whole problem of basic human rights. I don't know too many anarchists who can organize an independent trade union in Cuba these days. Stalinism isn't just about outright repression, but a whole ruling model. Cuba is a highly bureaucratic state with central planning. That's stalinist in my book. And like most stalinist countries, Cuba's capitalist recuperation is well underway, by its own bloody "socialist" leadership.

[Devrim]

Therefore, to describe Cuba as "stalinist" is incorrect.

You are a member of an organisation that describes Cuba as state capitalist. Stalinist isn't much of a jump, and I am sure that the SWP has at some point used it to describe Cuba.

You are also a member of an organisation that claims to be democratic centralist. That said I find it quite suprising that you can argue publicly against one of the organisation's central tenets.

I suggest you either (a) argue you organisations position, or (b) find an organisation that you agree with.

Devrim

[F9]

thats a good move,who knows maybe better days will come in Cuba with more freedom and equality!

Fuserg9:star:

[KrazyRabidSheep]

I was happy to read this.:D

[communard resolution]

Guess Cuba needs to stay hip with the liberal solidarity activists.As a communist you just can't win no matter what you do, can you? A new generation of communists will naturally have more liberal social views than the old generation. I believe that this "Stalinist craphole" is now the only country in the world whose health system offers transgender operations for free (I'm not 100% sure about that, but I don't think my relatively poor TS friend would have travelled to Thailand to get it done cheaper if it was available for free elsewhere). How does this 'Stalinist' health system compare to the American system where they charge you for emergency services when you get shot?

I'm very happy to hear this is happening in Cuba, however I would like to know how this newfound social liberalism extends to gay rights. I understand that in Iran, for instance, homosexuality is punishable by death while transgender operations are perfectly legal and socially accepted (due to some weird belief that homosexuals should all become women). This is not to compare Cuba to Iran in any way, I'm just suggesting that transgender issues and issues of sexual orientation are really two entirely different things, and some societies might accept one while condemning the other.

[Devrim]

I believe that this "Stalinist hellhole" is now the only country in the world whose health system offers transgender operations for free (I'm not 100% sure about that, but I don't think my relatively poor TS friend would have travelled to Thailand to get it done cheaper if it was available for free elsewhere

Turkey, Iran, the UK, many EU countries?

Devrim

[Dust Bunnies]

Wow this is interesting, free heath care for the win! (and Transsexuals' operations)

[communard resolution]

Turkey, Iran, the UK, many EU countries?

Devrim

I didn't know that. Maybe she went to Thailand to get it done cheap because she would have to be a citizen of one of the countries you mention to get it done free. Whatever the case, I welcome Cuba's move.

[Devrim]

I didn't know that. Maybe she went to Thailand to get it done cheap because she would have to be a citizen of one of the countries you mention to get it done free. Whatever the case, I welcome Cuba's move.

I reckon so, yes. The point is first that there is nothing in anyway socialist about providing this operation for free; lots of capitalist countries do just that and second, That Cuban has a history of persecution of gays, and this is a very late measure.

Instead of playing this out as some sort of progressive policy, meaybe a better take would be something like 'Cuba at last catches up with reactionary theocracies on trans-gender issue'.

Devrim

[Asoka89]

Cuba is a better place for LBGT now... they had the gay solidarity day last month, and this is another step in the right direction. Stop being so cynical. There is only one country in Latin America without hunger and homelessness. I'm far from a Marxist-Leninist, but why have so much vitrol for Cuba when it's already under so much attack from reactionaries all across the world?

[communard resolution]

I reckon so, yes. The point is first that there is nothing in anyway socialist about providing this operation for free; lots of capitalist countries do just thatI don't follow. Isn't a free health care that also covers TG operations more socialist than, say the American health care system? Does the fact that a few non-socialist countries offer free TG operations disqualify this particular measure as non-socialist?


Instead of playing this out as some sort of progressive policy, meaybe a better take would be something like 'Cuba at last catches up with reactionary theocracies of trans-gender issue'.
This is why I mentioned Iran and wondered about the broader gay rights situation in Cuba in my original post. I understand that the free TG operations in Iran derive from a warped belief that attraction to men becomes acceptable once the individual undergoes transformation into a woman. If that were the case in Cuba too, this would certainly be everything but progressive. But if it's tied to broader gay and TS liberation measures, then it is progressive. Have you got any info on gay rights in present-day Cuba?

[Qwerty Dvorak]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgWmO1Uwr0g&feature=dir

[punisa]

Cuba is very open-minded today, the whole idea of a communist state is just that. On the other hand Cuba has a huge conservative base, but I would say this is because of religion still plays a crucial role.

[communard resolution]

I don't know too many anarchists who can organize an independent trade union in Cuba these days.

I don't know too many anarchists who can even organize a piss-up.

[Joe Hill's Ghost]

As a communist you just can't win no matter what you do, can you? A new generation of communists will naturally have more liberal social views than the old generation. I believe that this "Stalinist craphole" is now the only country in the world whose health system offers transgender operations for free (I'm not 100% sure about that, but I don't think my relatively poor TS friend would have travelled to Thailand to get it done cheaper if it was available for free elsewhere). How does this 'Stalinist' health system compare to the American system where they charge you for emergency services when you get shot?



Actually I was bemoaning the fact that even Cuba could provide this basic, not so socialist service, while it still cost thousands of dollars in the US. You would know this if you had actually read my post.


I don't know too many anarchists who can even organize a piss-up.

You'd be surprised to know that there has been a strong Cuban anarchist movement for over a hundred years. Fidel has happily repressed it, starting with attacks on anarcho syndicalist militants in 1958.

[BobKKKindle$]

Instead of playing this out as some sort of progressive policy, meaybe a better take would be something like 'Cuba at last catches up with reactionary theocracies of trans-gender issue'.

This is an incorrect basis for comparison. Instead of comparing Cuba to liberal European countries where this operation has been available for some time, Cuba should be compared to other countries in Latin America. People in this region have traditionally exhibited very prejudiced attitudes towards homosexuals and anyone who does not conform to the machismo norm, and so in this context the fact that Cuba has been able to pass reforms improving the condition of transsexuals is impressive.

[Uncle Hank]

*cue applause*

:thumbup1:

Outstanding. Sexual liberation FTW.

[Devrim]

Cuba is a better place for LBGT now...There is only one country in Latin America without hunger and homelessness. I'm far from a Marxist-Leninist, but why have so much vitrol for Cuba when it's already under so much attack from reactionaries all across the world?

Cuba may well be a better places for gays now. What I was objecting to us the way this was being presented as some sort of socialist advance when it is the norm in many countries. As for Cuba being without hunger, I only know one person who has ever been there, and she was very pro-Cuba, but even she said hunger was quite widespread.


I don't follow. Isn't a free health care that also covers TG operations more socialist than, say the American health care system? Does the fact that a few non-socialist countries offer free TG operations disqualify this particular measure as non-socialist?You can't have socialist healthcare im a sea of capitalism. TG operations are provided free of charge by the state in many countries. My point is that there is nothing particularly socialist about this measure (or about Cuba for that matter).


I understand that the free TG operations in Iran derive from a warped belief that attraction to men becomes acceptable once the individual undergoes transformation into a woman.Maybe, but Turkey has free TG ops too, not for that reason. I don't think that Turkey is usually near the top of lists of progressive countries.


Have you got any info on gay rights in present-day Cuba?No, but I understand that in the past they were very poor.

Devrim

[Devrim]

This is an incorrect basis for comparison. Instead of comparing Cuba to liberal European countries where this operation has been available for some time, Cuba should be compared to other countries in Latin America.

I compared to Turkey, and Iran, hardly 'liberal European countries'. I don't know about other Latin American countries, but Wiki says:


Transsexual people are gaining acceptance in much of Latin America (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_America), and sex reassignment surgeries are on the rise in Mexico (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico), Argentina (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina) and Brazil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil).

Devrim

[communard resolution]

You can't have socialist healthcare im a sea of capitalism.

What would socialist healthcare look like?


Maybe, but Turkey has free TG ops too, not for that reason. I don't think that Turkey is usually near the top of lists of progressive countries.

What would you consider a progressive policy in regards to TG people?

[communard resolution]

No, but I understand that in the past they were very poor.I'm aware of Cuba's social conservatism in the past -which in my view had to do with traditional Cuban culture rather than Castroite communism- and I welcome the fact that a new generation of Cuban communists is more socially progressive and is bringing about change, even against popular Cuban opinion.

Viva Mariela Castro!

[BobKKKindle$]

I compared to Turkey, and Iran, hardly 'liberal European countries'.

Comparison to Iran also poses problems, because the Iranian government has provided transgender operations due to a reactionary conception of homosexuality. In Cuba, however, the government does not exercise oppression against the homosexual community, and has admitted that the previous policy of viewing homosexuality as a form of "bourgeois decadence" was a mistake (source (http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2007/12/10/index.php?section=mundo&article=035n1mun)).

This should be viewed as a socialist reform, despite the fact that transgender operations are also available in capitalist countries, because the struggle for the rights of sexual minorities has always been associated with the political left, and the provision of any kind of treatment for free is socialist, because this would not be possibly in an economy based solely on commodity production.

[Bastable]

Good work, Cuba! :lol:

Does this mean Raoul is better than Fidel?

[gla22]

^^^^^^^^
Raul is definitely better when it comes to human rights and personal freedoms.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

I don't know too many anarchists who can organize an independent trade union in Cuba these days."Independent trade union" is usually a code word for a counterrevolutionary imperialist front, ala' the CIA/Vatican-backed Solidarność "union" in Poland.

See: Confessions of an "independent" trade unionist in Cuba (http://www.cuba-solidarity.org/cubasi_article.asp?ArticleID=56)


Stalinism isn't just about outright repression, but a whole ruling model. Cuba is a highly bureaucratic state with central planning.Central planning is necessary if we're going to properly direct production and distribution to meet our needs. Of course, if central planning is not directed by the workers themselves, that's a different story, but to argue against a planned economy itself is to oppose humanity's mastery of nature to meet human need.


Instead of playing this out as some sort of progressive policy, meaybe a better take would be something like 'Cuba at last catches up with reactionary theocracies on trans-gender issue'.Trans-gender people could get free sex change operations in Saudi Arabia? Of course not. This is more ultra-left posturing.. pretending that any country that is not a flawless utopia is "just as bad" as every capitalist and imperialist-capitalist country in existence.

Unfortunately for us workers, we live in the real world, and we have to take all the bumps and bruises that come along with that reality.

Even if the leadership in Cuba were the most progressive on earth and had guaranteed free sex change surgery back in 1959, it would have done no good. The toilers have the marks of capitalism still upon them, and the pressures of international capitalism that continue. It takes a change in conditions and education to eliminate anti-gay (and other) biases.

Cuba made its mistakes early on, but has been working to rectify them since (and yes that started long before Raul was President). We've talked about this before here, but here are some sources:

When it comes to gay rights, is Cuba ahead of the U.S.? (http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0227-20.htm)

"Since 1986, the Cuban state has consciously tried to counter homophobia. Ian Lumsden, in his book Machos, maricones and gays, says there is "little evidence to support the contention that the persecution of homosexuals remains a matter of state policy..."

"In 1993, a sex education workshop was held in Cuba on homosexuality. Cuban physician Celestino Alverez explained that all laws regarding homosexuality had been repealed and that homophobia was a question of "prejudice, not persecution".

- Homosexuality in Cuba: revolution within the revolution (http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43b/172.html)

Strawberries and Chocolate, a movie about homosexuality in Cuba, was released in 1993.

"Homosexuality is a natural aspect and tendency of human beings" - Fidel Castro, 1992.

[Devrim]

Instead of playing this out as some sort of progressive policy, meaybe a better take would be something like 'Cuba at last catches up with reactionary theocracies on trans-gender issue'.Trans-gender people could get free sex change operations in Saudi Arabia? Of course not. This is more ultra-left posturing..


No, not Saudi, Iran. Also in a not particularly progressive country like Turkey for example.

Devrim

[Asoka89]

Planned economies aren't capable of handling an economy in the information age in advanced capitalist countries. Socialism will need to adapt to a system with market inputs.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

On the contrary, advanced computer systems available today raise the possibility of planned economies functioning increasingly well. Socialism = a planned economy administered by the (ruling) working class. The market is a vestige of capitalism.

This is not the topic of this thread though.

[Joe Hill's Ghost]

"Independent trade union" is usually a code word for a counterrevolutionary imperialist front, ala' the CIA/Vatican-backed Solidarność "union" in Poland.

See: Confessions of an "independent" trade unionist in Cuba (http://www.cuba-solidarity.org/cubasi_article.asp?ArticleID=56)


Rofl, yes anarchists are secret capitalist roaders. And any union not controlled by the one party state is clearly an imperialist front. Let me go put on my tin foil helmet. :rolleyes:

Regardless of its later developments, Solidarity was a solid union that addressed real problems that workers encountered everyday. No amount of CIA and Vatican funding can ignore that Solidarity staged massive strikes with ease.


Central planning is necessary if we're going to properly direct production and distribution to meet our needs. Of course, if central planning is not directed by the workers themselves, that's a different story, but to argue against a planned economy itself is to oppose humanity's mastery of nature to meet human need.

Central planning is a thoroughly bureaucratizing affair that eliminates people's ability to have real democratic input in production. There are some reasons why centrally planned economies accrue masses of officials and focus on heavy industry. Namely that
1. Centralized organizational structures require masses of bureaucrats to make up for its distance from the actual information on the ground.
2. Heavy industry privileges those with state power becuase it focuses on infrastructure and military goods.
3. Heavy industry is easy to replicate on a mass scale irrespective of individual preferences or desires. One size fits all for tanks, but not necessarily for violins.

A functional communist society needs to decentralize most productive planning in order to adequately respond to people's needs. The closer to the people and the more flexible the industry is, the more efficient we can be at meeting everyone's wants and needs.