Life in Cuba for people who are homosexual, bisexual, or transgender can be difficult. Many complain that there are few meeting places where they can gather, and transgender or cross-dressing Cubans are often hassled by police officers who see them as a threat to public order. The prevailing machismo culture in Cuba that celebrates traditional gender roles has been slow to accept those living outside those prescribed norms, either through gender variance or non-dominant sexual preferences. Despite social prejudices and lack of formal legal rights for the non-heterosexual community, however, there have been strong signs of a shift in public opinion in recent years. Mariela Castro Espín, daughter of acting president Raúl Castro and niece to Fidel, runs The National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX). This organization has recently introduced legislation to provide more medical and legal rights to transgender individuals, as well as a reform of the Family Code to create civil unions. CENESEX has also launched a significant campaign to educate Cubans and community leaders on the topic and enhance popular support. These legislative and educational efforts highlight a change of opinion within Cuban society and within state policy, as well. If Cuba could embrace progressive legislation protecting the rights and benefits of all citizens despite sexual orientation, they could use this political advance to warm relations with foreign governments that are troubled by its human rights record. Mariela Castro’s reform package, therefore, is not only a manifestation of changing opinions, but also a potential political tool to improve Cuba’s foreign, as well as domestic, relations.
The opening of discussion and reconsideration of long-held social beliefs within Cuban society concerning sexual orientation is significant because it parallels a recent flowering of dialogue about other sociopolitical changes. Raúl Castro, who took over as acting president from his brother, Fidel, after the revolutionary’s emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006, has invited the entire country into a dialogue concerning hopes, expectations, and ideas for how the country can reorganize to be more efficient and better meet citizens’ needs.
Mariela Castro and CENESEX believe that an important way in which governmental policies can be improved is through expanding legal protection and social benefits to cover same-sex couples and transgender Cubans. Consequently, CENESEX submitted proposals that would do so to three standing committees of the National Assembly between 2005 and 2006, where deputies have questioned and discussed their particulars[1]. The new laws, if passed, would give transgender Cubans the “legal right to change their sex after a medical diagnosis”[2] confirming the disconnection between their physical sex and psychological gender. These men and women would receive free hormone treatment and sex reassignment surgery, as well as new identity documents reflecting their gender preference.
Another aspect of the reforms proposed by CENESEX would create civil unions that grant the same rights as marriage to same-sex and opposite-sex pairs. This would allow same-sex couples to benefit from the same “civil, patrimonial, inheritance, housing and adoption rights as heterosexual couples.”[3] It would also “recognize the right of any woman to assisted reproduction services, which are currently limited to married couples.”[4] Another change would be the opening of adoption rights to same-sex parents-- a provision that, according to Mariela Castro, has encountered the “heaviest opposition.”[5]
Despite the broad rights granted to couples under civil unions, as proposed by CENESEX, these bonds would not be recognized as marriages, since calling them so would require a constitutional amendment. Article 36 of the constitution defines marriage as the “voluntary union between a man and a woman,”[6] making same-sex couples not eligible to legally marry. Since same-sex marriage remains quite controversial, such an amendment would be extremely difficult to pass.
These proposed reforms are currently being discussed and debated in the National Assembly within the standing committee for judicial and constitutional matters.[7] Nonetheless, Mariela Castro and CENESEX have encountered significant resistance to them. Although she hopes for the proposed changes to pass to the National Assembly to be voted on sometime in 2008, it is impossible to determine how long the standing committee may debate these proposals, or if they will ever move on to a vote. An additional hurdle will be the final review of the proposed legislation by the governing party’s leadership, although Mariela Castro does enjoy a degree of political clout by nature of being Raúl Castro’s daughter. This lineage, which gives her the ears of the nation’s leaders, may be very important to gaining the political support necessary to pass these proposed measures.
The discussion over these reforms, however, is not isolated to political chambers. It has trickled down through the entire population. Indeed, the other axis on which CENESEX is pushing for social change is educational. CENESEX is calling for sensitivity training for community leaders on the topics of sexual and gender diversity.
In an interview with reporters, Mariela Castro admitted that “gays, lesbians and transgendered people still face arrest” because of “bigoted police,” rather than because of discriminatory laws.[8] CENESEX has, consequently, launched “awareness-raising efforts”[9] to educate the police force on sexual diversity issues.
CENESEX also recognizes the central role of teachers in helping children adjust in society despite diverse sexual preferences or gender nonconformity. When discussing the matter with Juventud Rebelde, a Cuban newspaper targeted at the island’s youth, Mariela Castro maintained that “the school’s role regarding the attention to presumed transsexual minors who are under study is paramount.”[10] She hopes that educating teachers to be more aware and accommodating will help the rising generation of Cubans to be more sensitive to these issues, as well.
In addition to targeting education on sexual diversity to key members of society, CENESEX has brought the discussion into every Cuban home through the media. In return, the media, which often serve as a litmus test of popular opinion, have also opened to a deeper discussion of sexual diversity issues. The center scripted part of the story of a soap opera called “The Dark Side of the Moon” (“La Cara Oculta de la Luna”) that explored various themes within Cuban society, including bisexuality. One of the characters in this primetime telenovela comes out to his wife before beginning an affair with a man. As one of only two shows broadcast during its time slot, “The Dark Side of the Moon” was widely viewed and discussed, and was lauded by many for “triggering unprecedented social debate on sexual diversity and homophobia.”[11] While some viewers appreciated the more sensitive and realistic portrayal of a non-heterosexual character than what is commonly seen in the media, others argued that it reinforced pre-existing negative stereotypes.[12] Nonetheless, despite the assessment of the character himself, and some “vehement opposition to the media’s more open approach,”[13] the show has been successful in stimulating a much needed and much appreciated dialogue on sexual diversity and social acceptance thereof. CENESEX and the other forces behind the program fostered this dialogue by complementing airings with televised roundtable discussions featuring specialists on the topic, a sexual diversity website that published viewer comments, and an email account where the public could send questions and comments.
Recent media portrayals of homosexual and bisexual characters not only work to change pre-existing social views; they also reflect the degree to which such tolerance had already increased prior to those media’s dissemination. The youth newspaper, Juventud Rebelde, for example, has published several articles on the. In addition to interviewing Mariela Castro on her legislative reform efforts, it has also published several articles encouraging debate and acceptance of the GLBT community. One article, for example, examined the growing prevalence within Cuban society of the “metrosexual,” a heterosexual man with a fastidious interest in appearance and style. Another was titled “Transexuality: The Right to Live the Way We Feel” with the explanation: “Transsexuals are ordinary people who only need society’s recognition of their gender identity, even if their genitals have the opposite sex’s anatomy.”[14]
There has also been pronounced change in government attitude towards sexual diversity that parallels a growing tolerance within political opinion of social change. One indicator of changing views was the official appointment of a transgender diplomat to the Cuban delegation to the Latin American portion of the sixth World Social Forum held in January, 2006.[15] Not only is the ruling party showing acceptance of sexual diversity, but also of mild reorganization within the agricultural sector, international relations, and public expression. One sign of movement in political attitude is the government’s announcement in December, 2007, that it would sign the U.N.’s International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in May 2008. This decision not only reflects a change in policy of the Cuban government, but also signaled to the outside world that human rights within Cuba will improve, at least at the legal level.
This commitment to brighten the Cuban human rights record might be intended to encourage better diplomatic relations with foreign governments. Several countries have cut diplomatic ties with the island due to concerns over Cuba’s human rights record. The European Union, for example, imposed diplomatic sanctions against Cuba in 2003 after a crackdown against 75 independent journalists and dissidents. Though those sanctions were later suspended in 2005, the EU created them based on the decision that Cuba had “violated fundamental freedoms”[16] and human rights. New reforms that would enhance the legal rights and protections extended to the GLBT population, however, would send a message to the international community that Cuba is making a concerted effort to change its reputation regarding personal freedom. Like pledging to sign the U.N. human rights resolutions, such a sign is both a reflection of a shift in attitude within the Cuban leadership and a move to improve external relations.
If the legislation proposed by Mariela Castro and CENESEX were to pass, Cuba would be able to boast human rights protections that even the United States would lack, including state-funded sex reassignment surgery, fertility assistance for same-sex couples, and nationwide civil unions for same-sex and opposite sex couples that offer all the benefits of marriage. Indeed, Cuba has instituted an “Identity Law” that protects the right of citizens to change their name and official sex to match their gender even without undergoing invasive sex reassignment procedures. [17] This law as it stands is quite progressive, and, according to the newsletter, Diversidad, “places Cuba at the vanguard of the legislations that acknowledge the rights of transvestites, transsexuals and transgender in Latin America.”[18] If Cuba were to pass the proposed reforms, it could find itself at the vanguard of GLBT rights internationally. Cuba would be put in the same camp as some of the most progressive countries in terms of social policy related to sexual and gender diversity.
Although Cuba has great political incentive to pass the reforms to the Family Code and legislation advancing the rights of transgender citizens, it is unclear how long it might take for the proposals to pass through the standing committee to be voted upon in the National Assembly. Furthermore, despite encouraging signs of Cuban citizens and lawmakers willing to discuss sexual diversity, it is unclear if the measures will be passed, or retain most of the provisions that they originally contained. Although the government has shown signs of a renewed commitment to protecting the human rights of its citizens by pledging to sign the U.N. conventions, there is still great opposition to the open expression of homosexuality and bisexuality on the island both within the population and the government. Even if such legislation is passed, a sea change in social acceptance of sexual and gender diversity to make Cuban society open and accepting of differences will take more outreach, education, and, above all, time.
Written By: Danielle Barav
