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“The errors which Cuba committed were very similar to those that were and still are committed in many countries. Cuba was a reflection of the world. The same happened here that happened in other places, only that much more got out because it was expected that a Socialist revolution could not commit those errors because it was a revolution for the emancipation of man. The ideology at that time was permeated with homophobia and prejudices. The Communist parties were very homophobic. It is recently that they have more inclusive attitudes.”

Reviewing the achievements and obstacles in overcoming the decades of discrimination, Mariela considers that the Cuban media “still timidly approaches” sexual diversity. “They are losing the fear”: last year a telenovela which tackled male bisexuality caused an intense social controversy; the newspaper Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth) has a section on sex; television approaches the theme in a comedy programmes and a short drama was broadcast about a lesbian pair.

But prejudice is still deep-rooted in society and in the government: “There still are institutions that take the right to decide if a lesbian, gay or transsexual person can or not occupy a post.” In the educational sector “we have achieved very little”: schools turn down transsexuals who wish to dress according to their real sex… they are vulnerable to mockery and rejection and abandon studies. Cenesex speaks with the police about how to behave in public spaces with homosexuals or transsexuals: “there are people very grateful for that conversation though others are not so receptive”.

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Canadian Dimension article

[ 15 April 2008: Message edited by: M. Spector ]

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Originally posted by Stockholm:
Just out of curiosity, what is the common wisdom on why exactly Castro herded gays men into concentration camps when he first took power. I really they have tried to make amends - but what caused him to do this in the first place?

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Castro himself has cited the macho culture to which Cuba is heir. That seems a reasonable analysis.

ETA: They may have associated "gay culture" with the general decadence and exploitation associated with organized crime, the casinos, and the Batista regime generally.

[ 17 December 2007: Message edited by: RosaL ]

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Castro himself has cited the macho culture to which Cuba is heir. That seems a reasonable analysis.

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Michelle: He is discussing it.

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Um, no. He's discussing past homophobia in Cuba. I was wondering if he had any opinions on the recent changes in Cuban law.

Imagine what a discussion about making marital rape illegal would be like if women were restricted from discussing the persecution that happened to married women BEFORE the law came in?

You're basically telling a gay man that discussing the persecution of gays and lesbians in Cuba before this change, by the same person making the change, is off-topic?

I fail to see how what Stockholm is talking about is unrelated to the thread topic. The title of the thread is "Cuba making progress on sexual diversity". Stockholm is talking about how the same person bringing in these changes is the person who persecuted sexual minorities in the first place.

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I was wondering if he had any opinions on the recent changes in Cuban law.

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There are no recent changes to Cuban law. There is a "proposed change".

No one knows whether there will be any reality to the changes, though. Commonly, Cuba enacts laws which are then not enforced, because they are basically done for public relations purposes.

A good example of this was the worldwide publicity campaign generated by local Communist parties when Cuba "enacted" a law requiring men to do housework.

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Q: Tell us about the bill on sexual diversity.

“We submitted it to the CP, and they put us in touch with the relevant State bodies. I don’t know when it will be approved; many big issues are under discussion in Cuba as we speak that I guess have taken precedence. It will be approved, that much we’ve been told. The Party has asked us to raise public awareness and work with the media to that end so that everyone is familiar with this subject when the bill is passed.”

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Originally posted by Stockholm:
...Castro herded gays men into concentration camps when he first took power.

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Here's what a couple of gay activists had to say about this a couple of years ago:

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Before the 1959 revolution, life for lesbians and gays was one of extreme isolation and repression, enforced by civil law and augmented by Catholic dogma. Patriarchal attitudes made lesbians invisible. If discovered, they would often suffer sexual abuse, disgrace in the community, and job loss. Havana's gay male underground-some 200,000-was a purgatory of prostitution to American tourists, domestic servitude, and constant threats of violence, and blackmail.

The closet was the operative image. Survival often meant engaging in fake heterosexual marriage, or banishment to the gay slum. Existence for queers in Cuba paralleled that of other countries.

Following the revolution, women won near full equality under the law, including pay equity and the right to child care, abortion, and military service, among other historic gains, laying the basis for their higher social and political status. This foundation, a first in the Americas, played an important role in women's greater independence and sexual freedom, a prerequisite for homosexual liberation.

The Cuban Revolution also destroyed the Mafia-controlled, U.S. tourist-driven prostitution trade that held many Cuban women and gay men in bondage. The revolution undertook to provide ample education and employment opportunities for female prostitutes. Advances for women in general were naturally extended to lesbians, and many became among the most ardent defenders of the revolution.

On the other hand, a significant minority of gay men left Cuba. Some joined the counter-revolutionary expatriates in Miami or were blackmailed into doing so. Ironically, the U.S., which was busy flushing out and jailing its homosexuals during the McCarthy period, welcomed Cuban gays as part of its overall campaign to destabilize the island.

Latin machismo, Catholic bigotry, and anti-gay Stalinism combined in the early years of the revolution to limit specific legal reforms for lesbians and gays. Nonetheless, the latter joined the effort to build socialism; the majority was looking to a better future, while temporarily remaining in the closet.
....

In 1965, Cuba was under siege from the U.S. (Bay of Pigs 1961, Missile Crisis 1962, systematic military and biological incursions from Florida bases).

Counter-revolutionary bandits were holed up in the Escambray Mountains. In a misguided scheme to put thousands of draft dodgers-from gay men and transvestites, to Jehovah's Witnesses-to work to bolster sugar yields, the government initiated Military Units for the Aid of Production (UMAP).

Ensuing domestic and international pressure, along with direct political intervention by Fidel Castro, shut down the penal labor brigades after only 18 months. Cubans consider the UMAP project a serious error and a breech of the principle of socialist equality. Yet, right-wingers persist in describing UMAPs as concentration camps, and imply they still exist.
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By the late '60s, the Cuban approach toward lesbians and gays was in sync with Europe and Canada. Homosexuality was treated as an "illness" to be cured and no longer a criminal activity. In the 1970s, the transplanted Stalinist-Maoist notion that gays were a "manifestation of capitalist decadence" was abandoned. Homosexuality was viewed as a form of sexual behavior requiring study.

A 1971 Cultural Congress declaration that "no homosexual shall represent Cuba" was a setback. The decree was challenged in court by a theater group and rescinded two years later.

As in Canada and the United States in the 1970s and early '80s, Cuban gays suffered routine police harassment, resulting in shameful public outings. But in Cuba, there was never physical torture by cops.

Leaps forward for Cuban gays

1975: Rules limiting employment of homosexuals in the arts and education were overturned. A Family Code was adopted, calling for equal responsibility for child-rearing and household duties between men and women.

1979: Homosexual acts were decriminalized.

1981: The Cuban bestseller, "In Defense of Love," by Dr. Sigfried Schnabl, declares homosexuality "not a sickness, but a variant of sexuality."

1986: National Commission on Sex Education introduces a program on homosexuality and bisexuality as healthy and positive.

1987: Police are forbidden to harass people because of appearance or clothing, largely benefiting gays.

1988: Law against "flaunting homosexuality" is rescinded. Fidel Castro explains the need to reject rigidity and change negative party and societal attitudes towards gays.

1992: Vilma Espin, a leader of the revolution and president of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), condemns prejudicial views against lesbians and gays. Castro speaks in defense of women's equality and rebukes anti-gay sentiments: "I am absolutely opposed to any form of repression, contempt, scorn or discrimination with regard to homosexuals. [It is] a natural human tendency that must simply be respected."

1993: Release of state-sponsored blockbuster film, "Strawberry and Chocolate," which is critical of Communist Party discrimination against gays in the 1970s and '80s. It is widely viewed in Cuba and praised internationally. The first gay men's group is launched to combat AIDS.

1994: The Documentary film "Gay Cuba," by U.S. director Sonja de Vries, frankly examines the island's gay rights record. It opens an FMC event in Havana. The FMC invites the U.S. Queers for Cuba group to tour the island.

1995: The Cuban documentary, "Butterflies on the Scaffold," chronicles how transvestites became a respected part of a Havana suburb. Cuban gays and transvestites dance at the head of the parade at Havana's May Day celebration, and two U.S. queer delegations participate in the march.

1997: The last traces of anti-gay references in Cuba laws are removed.

1998: A nationwide television program launches a debate on lesbians and gays to vast audience interest. The topic is discussed in communities for weeks following.

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Originally posted by jeff house:
A good example of this was the worldwide publicity campaign generated by local Communist parties when Cuba "enacted" a law requiring men to do housework.

Now, twenty years later, there is no known case of this "law” being enforced. It was fun to discuss, though.

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Originally posted by jeff house:
There are no recent changes to Cuban law. There is a "proposed change".

No one knows whether there will be any reality to the changes, though. Commonly, Cuba enacts laws which are then not enforced, because they are basically done for public relations purposes.

A good example of this was the worldwide publicity campaign generated by local Communist parties when Cuba "enacted" a law requiring men to do housework.

Now, twenty years later, there is no known case of this "lawÈ being enforced. It was fun to discuss, though.

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Originally posted by Michelle:
No, I think what he's saying is that the law itself has not been used. Doesn't mean men don't do housework voluntarily, he's just saying that there's a law on the books that is never used or enforced.

I have no idea whether this is correct - I haven't even heard of this law before, although I think it's kind of neat.

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Actually, I think it is kinda neat too for what it implies and it means in pratical application.

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Cuba actually passed a law requiring men to do housework?

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Oh yes, there was a large international campaign around this in the late 1970s.

However, calling it a "law" is probably too kind since it isn't enforced, it's more like a publicity campaign that pretended to be law.

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Originally posted by M. Spector:

Here's what a couple of gay activists had to say about this a couple of years ago:
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"Existence for queers in Cuba paralleled that of other countries."
...end quote
Source

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Originally posted by jeff house:
..., it's more like a publicity campaign that pretended to be law.

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Are Blackwater mercenaries still overpayed and on steroids ? Is Halliburton still an untouchable corporate force linked to and sheilded by the US gov't ?

Is over 50% of the American tax dollar still going towards military expenditures ?

[ 17 December 2007: Message edited by: Peppered Pothead ]

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HAVANA (AP) — 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'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 book presentations. A station also offered blood-tests for sexually transmitted diseases.

Cuban state television gave prime-time play Friday to the U.S. 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 said the government needs to do more to promote gay rights, but said many Cubans still need to be convinced.

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