Gay Pride in Cuba: The Campaign for GLBT Rights

by Byron Motley

On the outside looking in, one would assume that Cuba is stuck in a time warp. Marked by decaying buildings, vintage automobiles, and a lack of modern amenities, it seems that the island ruled by Mafioso bosses and gluttonous dictator Fulgencio Batista during the 1940s and ’50s has evolved little since the U.S. placed a trade embargo on the country in the early 1960s. But look a little deeper and you will see astonishing developments occurring regarding Cuba’s human rights policies.

Cuba is far more progressive when it comes to social issues than one might realize. For years the island has been working to overcome racial issues that dogged the country in its pre-revolutionary era. More recently, one of the most impressive issues leading social and political reform is that of equal rights for the island’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) community.

For eight days (May 11 – May 18), Cuba celebrated its third annual International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) in Havana and Santa Clara. The action-packed event included symposia, lectures, films, art exhibits and drag shows.

Touting this year’s theme, “Homosexuality Is Not Dangerous, Homophobia Is”, members of Cuba’s GLBT community and its supporters rallied in a show of solidarity to promote greater understanding and tolerance of GLBT issues. This kind of movement in a country better known by most Americans for its repression and censure is nothing short of remarkable.

At the forefront of the fight on the behalf of the GLBT community is Mariela Castro Espin, the 47-year-old daughter of Cuba’s president, Raul Castro (and niece of iconic retired leader Fidel). Heterosexual and a married mother of three, Castro Espin is the director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX) in Havana. Since 2005, CENESEX has been educating and campaigning for GLBT rights, HIV/AIDS prevention, and gender equality in Cuba.

a fired-up Mariela Castro Espin addresses the audience on the opening ceremony of IDAHO

During a break from one of the day’s IDAHO events, Castro Espin and I, with the aid of an interpreter, discussed the importance of her work. She started by explaining,

Our organization [CENESEX] raises world awareness and reflection on the plight of homosexuals. The message of the organization is that homosexuality is not a mental illness or another type of disease, but rather a legitimate form of human sexual existence.

Her animated yet concise expression, the fervent hope in her eyes and soulful tone in her voice, instill an almost infectious passion:

Our work, along with all that of our collaborators and supporters, is to educate the world. We do this in a peaceful, loving and caring manner that is not confrontational, but rather serves to educate and provide a place of safety for homosexuals who have been cast out by society.

With Castro Espin at the helm, Cuba’s GLBT community has made tremendous strides in the last half-decade in terms of visibility, awareness and acceptance. While change is slow and methodical, and there is a still much work to do, Cuba is arguably one of the most progressive Latin-American countries with respect to homosexuality. As one CENESEX volunteer, Luis, explained,

Four years ago CENESEX and other groups began working to help educate families to accept gay and lesbian relationships. We try to explain that if the family rejects a gay person, it is more dangerous for that person. If the family rejects us, where are we going to go? Family is family, and family must accept us the way we are. Because we are sons, we are mothers, we are husbands, we are fathers, we are daughters. We are everyone.

It helps that CENESEX has the affable, feisty and engaging presence of Castro Espin. What’s more, her political lineage gives her an edge in the fight for a minority who might otherwise continued to be dismissed or outright condemned. No doubt drawing from the spirit of her mother, Vilma Espin, an activist for women and children's rights during her lifetime, Mariela is the perfect leader for this cause at this time in her country’s history. When addressing a crowd, she is riveting. Her appealing and commanding charisma makes you want to listen. Her passionate delivery is both powerful and insightful. She is a force. Because of her girl-next-door charm and everpresent smile, many Cubans refer to her as sangreliviana (sweet blood), a special term of endearment for someone considered to possess a unique spirit of love and kindness. One feels an immediate kinship with her and the feeling of being in the presence of an honest ally. She is truly loved by the GLBT community and she loves them in return. The mutual level of respect is palpable.

a drag performer in Havana

Pedro Monzon, Head of Cuba’s International Division of the Ministry of Culture, noted,

[The changes that] Mariela has made regarding human rights is very important and has been spirited and conscientious. Everybody can feel it. She is dedicated and working for the rights and equality of all people. The job she is doing is very systematic, influencing the whole society, day by day, year by year. [Mariela] has the heart of a Revolutionary! She is a revolutionary! How can she not be? It’s in her blood!

The engaging Castro Espin elaborates further on her activism:

[Because of] Cuba’s uniqueness, it is very important that revolutionary discourse becomes more inclusive of the issue of homosexuality. The importance is that we are dealing with a theme that is part of our reality, which historically has been mistreated in the scientific community and obviously has had influence in the legal and political discourse as well. It’s time that changes.

While some cynics might minimize a “straight” person’s effectiveness in leading a gay rights movement, Castro Espin refuted this notion:

[The issue of homosexuality] is pertinent to my work and profession. Because of my background, both educationally and familial, I could provoke and initiate a debate because I had professional standing in this area. But I am not only involved in this struggle, but I am involved also with the struggles against racism, the struggles for women’s and children’s rights ... and against war!

Keeping true to her political roots, Castro Espin added, “With this [work] we are also supporting and helping the development of Socialism.”

Cuba's first male-to-female transexual Mavi Suzell and Mariela Castro Espin

Castro Espin told me that her proudest achievement to date came in 2007, when the Cuban government reactivated sex change operations. She attended the first operations and waited alongside the families in the hospital waiting room. She was visibly moved as she reflected on the day:

We were all very, very emotional when the first patient came out of the operating room. The mother of one of the transgender patients said to me, “We don’t know how we will ever thank you for helping us get this done.” I replied, “You just thanked us with your happiness.”

Cuba’s first male-to-female transsexual, Mavi Suzell, was in attendance at many of the IDAHO events. A close friend of Mariela’s, the 49-year-old Suzell said that her operation on May 22, 1988 changed not only her sexual identity, but her life as well. “Before my procedure, I suffered a lot emotionally,” she said. “Now I am fully accepted as I was not before. I have the admiration of people who before didn’t understand what I was all about.” Reflecting on her former self, Suzell explained,

There was a period of time where I suffered a lot, and I was even rejected by the gay community. They used to say I was crazy. They had no contact with this type of situation [so] they didn’t understand it. They told me I could never achieve what I wanted and that I couldn’t live in this way. Since my procedure, I have been able to achieve things that I could not otherwise have achieved. And I have achieved more understanding from other people.

The fact that Suzell’s surgery took place at all is even more astonishing considering that the year before her operation, the Human Rights Watch reported that the Cuban government had heightened its harassment of homosexuals by “raiding nightclubs known to have gay clientele and allegedly beating and detaining dozens of patrons.”

Ultimately, government bureaucracy, age-old taboos and extreme homophobia halted sex change operations soon after Suzell’s procedure. But, with the work of Mariela and CENESEX, others like Suzell wishing to undergo a change in sexual identity can do so lawfully and with full financial support of Cuba’s state run health care system. Mariela reiterates the necessity of sex change operations: “I have had many, many proud moments in my work. But I’m most proud of the reinstatement of the sex change operations.”

This year’s IDAHO events were diverse in scope, rich in content, and plentiful, scheduled back-to-back throughout each day. And organizers boasted that it is growing each year. The eight-day agenda began with panel discussions in Havana and ended with a drag show extravaganza in Cuba’s “gayest city,” Santa Clara (a four-hour drive southwest of Havana). Overall, the programs were less celebratory and more cerebral in tone. It was explained to me that the approach of IDAHO is more “scientific” in thought as opposed to an “in your face” stance, the purpose being to be more inclusive and reach more people while minimizing the risk of offending others. After all, the ideal of “anti-homophobia” is a relatively new movement for Cuba, a culture rooted in machismo.

revelers celebrate during the parade through the streets of Havana

Many of the symposia were attended by Cuba’s elite intellectual and artistic communities. Nationally recognized figures Norge Espinosa, Mirta Yanez, Gerardo Chijona and Ana Luz Garcia Calzada were just a few of the featured orators and presenters. Poets recited poetry, authors read their prose, and erotic homosexual art and photographs adorned the walls of galleries and halls. The discussions ranged from how to continue and expand the road of inclusivity throughout Cuban society to spirited debates over Cuba’s controversial past on the subject.

The only international presence came from, of all places, the United States. A delegation of 14 members from the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, New York came in support of IDAHO’s cause. Wearing T-shirts with a white rose symbolizing Jose Marti’s poem “I Cultivate a White Rose” alongside the phrase Working Together Against Homophobia, the U.S. delegation participated in discussions and brought medical and other supplies to Cuba’s needy. Church member Emily Thomas stated,

We’ve picked the white rose as our symbol for our work with Cuba because we are very aware of our own government’s fifty-some years of hostility and lack of information and misinformation [toward Cuba]. That’s the burden that we as U.S. citizens carry. Part of our task is to respond to that. Our church [is] moving to reflect the kingdom of God as it exists. Honoring and loving everybody for their own particular gifts that God has given them.

Openly gay minister Rev. Dr. Carrie Jackson of the United Church of Christ in Stamford, Connecticut accompanied the group to Cuba. Rev. Jackson suggested,

Looking at issues that are common in both countries, you have racism, colorism and homophobia. You know we have those issues very present in the United States, so we are able to look from our U.S. lens and see some of those things very present that are often not being talked about in Cuba.

Emily Thomas added, “Nobody has all the answers but together we can move a step closer.” Thomas also noted changes she has seen in Cuba from several visits to the island over the past few years: “I tell people in the U.S. all the time, ‘The Cubans have a National Day Against Homophobia’, and then ask, ‘What do we have? Hello?!’”

The main event in Havana occurred on the morning of Saturday, May 15. Beginning at the La Rampa Cinema, more than 500 people packed the theater to hear and participate in panel discussions on topics ranging from family and society to HIV/AIDS. At the conclusion of the emotional two and a half hour program, the Cubans were ready to let their hair down and have some fun. Outside the venue, a carnival-like atmosphere was already in progress. African Santeria drums filled the afternoon air with beats and rhythms that had every able leg bouncing and grooving in time. Mariela Castro Espin jubilantly led the crowd of stilted clowns, costumed revelers, and thousands of supporters in a parade up one long city block. Everyone danced, sang, rejoiced, hugged, kissed, laughed and cried as the procession moved to an outdoor venue called Pabellón Cuba, where the festivities culminated in a fiesta-like atmosphere.

the crowd outside club El Mejunje in Santa Clara on the final night of IDAHO

IDAHO’s weeklong program culminated with a performance showcase and celebration in Santa Clara, at Cuba’s only government authorized gay establishment, El Mejunje. The small open-air venue is famous for its drag shows and a party atmosphere in which the GLBT community can be themselves without the fear of harassment from non-gays. For the closing festivities, a stage was built in front of the club to accommodate the crowd, as it seemed that all of Santa Clara turned out for their “biggest night of the year.” After Castro Espin welcomed and addressed the 5,000-plus people in attendance, 16 drag performers, two bands, two singers and a ballet troupe entertained the crowd in a stellar two-hour performance. Looking over the crowd, I could see a true reflection of Cuban society. They had all come together for a night of fun and entertainment. No one was there to judge or jeer. Everyone, it seems, was there to celebrate. Cubans, from the lightest to the darkest, from infants to the elderly, gays, straights and those in the midst of gender transition, were all there in an ultimate display of humanism and socialism.

As Cuba continues its journey to garner equality for all her citizens, Mariela Castro Espin and many others dedicated to the cause know it will take more time, but are happy to continue the necessary work of breaking down barriers. Castro Espin summed up her work by saying,

Homophobia is a cultural problem. We are all born with a certain sexual identity, regardless of our gender. In the world of animals, this doesn’t exist; this exists only in the world of humans. My hope is that the gay community and the non-gay community learn how to respect each other. To overcome their prejudices and learn how to understand even the things they don’t understand yet. For now, that would be good. Later, we’ll get more.

To view all Byron Motley’s IDAHO photos, please click here.
For more information, please contact Byron Motley at ByronM@ByronMotley.com or 323-257-0824.

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