An event of such magnitude could not but completely change policies regarding gender and sexualities. This has been a process of complex cultural metamorphosis, leading to confrontations and dialogue between generations, cultural patterns, classes and social strata, in which women have been protagonists and promoters.

In this scenario of broad popular participation, the first actions were taken to implement political, economic and social changes that modified the role of men and women in society and within the family, in the relationships of couples, in sexualities, in intergenerational relations.

Between 1959 and 1961, the young Revolutionary state approved significant laws that responded to longstanding aspirations frustrated by the politicking of traditional parties, their corruption and servility to the powerful nation to the North. Outstanding among these was the Fundamental Law of the Republic of Cuba, approved on February 7, 1959, which established equal salaries for men and women.

On August 23, 1960, the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) was officially established as an organized mass movement of women in civil society. Since then, women implemented our own project of empowerment as subjects by law, with a profound impact on all of society, politics and culture.

At the same time, different initiatives of broad citizen participation emerged, such as popular mobilizations in defense of terrorist aggressions organized by the government of the United States of America; women came to their homes dressed as militia members and their image in this new social role became everyday.

The broad incorporation of women into the workplace and a wide range of public events had a great impact on sexuality (Núñez, 2001). The new social condition of women contributed to changing the prevailing reproductive pattern from six children per woman to less than one son or daughter per woman (Alfonso, 2006), although the latest National Fertility Survey reports that the reproductive ideal for women is 2.13 and for men 2.31 (ONEI, 2009).

As a result of joint work by the FMC and the new National Public Health System, the National Family Planning Program was established in 1964 and in 1965 the voluntary termination of pregnancy was institutionalized as a free service, performed by professionals in public health institutions.

This was done with the goal of reducing maternal mortality and promoting and guaranteeing women’s right to make their own decisions about their bodies.

These decisions, along with other national program, contributed to a decrease in maternal mortality, which in 1959 was 120 per 100,000 live births, and by 1966 had been reduced to 60. Rigorous monitoring of this indicator to reduce its predictable causes is an ongoing task and one of the most important components of the Ministry’s Mother and Child Program, reporting a rate of 36 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2019.

In accordance its own mechanisms of participation, in 1972, the FMC established a multidisciplinary, inter-sectoral working group to manage and develop a National Sex Education Program.

The goal of this initiative was to respond to one of the proposals expressed by women in our annual plenary sessions: to prepare themselves in sex education in order to better guide their daughters and sons, and thus avoid the uncertainty they suffered. The National Sex Education Working Group was created with this premise.

The importance of sex education was acknowledged at the Second Congress of the FMC in 1974 and at the First Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba in 1975. Since then, sexuality education has been expressed in state policy, with families and schools recognized as the institutions with the greatest responsibility in the matter.

The policies of the 1960s were expressed in new laws during the 1970s, most notably the Family Code adopted in 1975 as a result of a broad process of popular consultation. Considered the most advanced for its time in the entire continent, it recognized the right of men and women to full sexuality and to share the same domestic and educational responsibilities.

As a result of the policy developed during the 1970s, Cuba was the first country to sign, and the second to ratify, government commitment to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, 1979).

Cuban culture has a strong patriarchal Hispanic-African heritage, with a long homophobic tradition, a model of domination imposed by the Spanish colonial system and its official religion, along with a worldwide scientific approach that stigmatized homosexuality.

When the Revolution triumphed, medical, psychological, social and legal sciences around the world took positions against homosexuality, and considered it an example of illness, insanity, moral decadence and deviation from social norms.

Unfortunately, the permanence of institutionalized homophobia in the first decades of the Revolution has not been analyzed in all its complexity. This situation is exploited by those who only see it as an opportunity to profit from the well-funded market of attacks on Cuba. Given this reality, it is essential that our institutions critically analyze practices that are inconsistent with the humanist spirit of the revolutionary process.

David Carter (2004), in his book Stonewall, on the protests that ignited the gay revolution, wrote, in 1961, that laws criminalizing homosexuality in the United States were tougher than those in Cuba, Russia or East Germany, countries customarily criticized by the U.S. government for their “despotic methods” (Carter D., p.16).

Understanding the current situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI+) persons in Cuba, and the need to address attention to their needs as a question of policy, demands that we understand the historical evolution of the issue within the Cuban Revolution’s social agenda.

The National Working Group on Sex Education (Gntes, 1972), led by the FMC, became the National Center for Sex Education (Cenesex) in 1988, and since then has been subordinated to the Ministry of Public Health (Minsap).

Cenesex’s mission is to contribute to the development of comprehensive education on sexuality, sexual health, recognition and guarantee of the sexual rights of the entire population. Toward this end, the Center develops educational and communication strategies that include different national public welfare campaigns.

The initiative to celebrate the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, beginning May 17, 2007, has had significant impact on the mobilization of the Cuban population’s social conscience.

We welcomed the proposal by the French-Caribbean professor, Louis-Georges Tin, to place the celebration on the date of the World Health Organization’s decision to formally de-pathologize homosexuality, leaving behind unscientific points of view that contributed to stigma and discrimination. This occurred on May 17, 1990.

Since 2008, we have dedicated the entire month of May to developing educational and communication activities that promote respect for free sexual orientation and gender identities, as an exercise in justice and social equity, under the name of Cuban Days against Homophobia and Transphobia.

These days are coordinated by CENESEX, through Minsap, along with other state institutions, the government and the indispensable support of the Party at all levels. Campaigns have been focused on the family, school, work and, more recently, recognition of all rights for all people, without discrimination due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Cuban Days against Homophobia and Transphobia have undoubtedly had an impact on the vision of the country approved by the 7th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba (2016) and the National Assembly of People’s Power (2017) after a rigorous process of popular consultation.

The Conceptualization of the Cuban Economic and Social Model of Socialist Development, and the National Plan of Economic and Social Development through 2030, expressly mention the need to confront all forms of discrimination, including that motivated by sexual orientation or gender identity.

In total harmony with these decisions, since 2019, our Constitution textually recognizes sexual and reproductive rights, prohibits discrimination against persons with non-homonormative sexualities, protects family diversity and clearly regulates marriage as a legal institution accessible to all persons without discrimination of any kind.

Of course, we still have a long way to go. That is why we educate for love and respectful coexistence, not for the perpetuation of relationships of domination or violence. We educate in the humanist and democratic principles that are inspired by the emancipatory paradigm of socialism, in freedom as a complex individual and collective responsibility. We will continue working until all justice is achieved.

(Source: Granma)

The specialized institution is attached to the Ministry of Public Health, and since 2006 is an accredited postgraduate study center, attached to the University of Havana’s School of Medical Sciences. It is a member organization of the Cuban United Nations Association, the World Association for Sexual Health, Latin American Federation of Sexology and Sex Education Societies, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, and its regional organization for Latin America and the Caribbean.

CENESEX promotes sex education based on a socialist, emancipatory paradigm. This means recognition of the right to sexuality as an inalienable human right in any society, as MSc Manuel Vázquez Seijido, assistant director of CENESEX, told Granma International.

To ensure respect for this right, and combat prejudice and discrimination, CENESEX makes use of three areas of scientific work: medical assistance related to teaching and research; community work to raise awareness among the population; and legal advice to ensure compliance with what is prescribed in the different legislative codes in this area.

“Our institution is very diverse in terms of the activities undertaken. On the one hand, it dedicates important efforts to scientific research in order to obtain the grounds that support undergraduate and postgraduate training processes. We have diploma and masters programs, and we are working on a PhD program. We also teach several short and training courses, which we offer nationally and internationally. We also undertake various actions at the community level, visualized in the four major events held throughout the year, with a vast social and media impact,” Vázquez explained.

ANNUAL CENESEX EVENTS

At the beginning of the year, the institution organizes the Motherhood and Fatherhood: Equal Rights and Responsibilities event, which extends from February 14 to Father’s Day, in June, thus also including Mother’s Day. As part of the event, special attention is paid to guidelines on raising children in all their diversity, as well as teaching, awareness-raising, and community impact activities, such as fairs and book presentations.

The Conga Against Homophobia and Transphobia is held every May in Havana, as part of the awareness campaign organized by CENESEX. Photo: Ariel Ley Royero
Overlapping with this first event is the Cuban Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, which has taken place annually since 2007. The main attraction of the event is the street conga along central Havana avenues, as well as other cultural activities, supported by artists and musicians. The event involves the different Party structures, working in partnership with governmental institutions such as the police; the ministries of Culture and Education; the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation; and several Public Health entities.

The Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia also includes a Gala event, which welcomes an important group of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex (LGTBI) activists, as well as the public, and features performances by numerous artists.

In August and September, CENESEX marks World Sexual Health Day with a series of activities. The international Day is led by the World Association for Sexual Health, and is celebrated every September 4 by each of its member countries, with Cuba organizing events since 2012. The event seeks to draw attention to issues related to sexual health, and this year’s edition was dedicated to girls, boys, youth, and adolescents.

To close the year, efforts focus on activities against gender violence, to mark the United Nations-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, November 25. Activities focus on the exclusion, discrimination and aggression suffered by women and girls, as well as other groups, manifested in social phenomena such as bullying, common jokes, and expressions of a segregationist nature.

“We use the occasion to draw attention to all the forms of violence against lesbians, transgender women, gay men, trans men, and heterosexual men. This event concludes December 10, International Human Rights Day. Falling within this period is December 1, celebrated globally as World AIDS Day; and on the 5th of this same month, we celebrate International Volunteer Day, linked to the struggle against the epidemic,” Vázquez detailed.

These events feature media campaigns, awareness-raising courses, the presentation of bibliographical materials, specialized magazines, and explanatory brochures on the different issues. Scientific workshops, cultural events and neighborhood, student and workplace activities are also held.

MSc Manuel Vázquez Seijido, assistant director of the institution, highlighting the efforts to protect the rights of vulnerable groups in society and defend their sexual diversity. Photo: Mayda Medina Entenza
“We also offer science-based care services designed to connect with the main problems and discontent associated with people’s health and sexual rights. In these consultations, we acquire knowledge that allows us to make decisions regarding our educational campaigns, courses, and research. It is a kind of laboratory to explore the different themes of today’s society,” the assistant director added.

HELP AND ADVICE

The institution welcomes those seeking help regarding their sexual health, and support for their sexual rights. The institution’s legal advice team supports all those who feel their rights are violated. At the same time, sexual guidance and therapy is also offered, to seek solutions to problems such as sexual dysfunction.

Psychologist Ana María Cano López is responsible for CENESEX’s care service for children and adolescents subjected to physical or sexual abuse, founded in 2005 with the support of UNICEF.

“Cases are referred to us from the Center for the Protection of Children and Adolescents, located in Havana. There are three centers of this type in the country. One here in the capital, another in Villa Clara, and lastly, in Santiago de Cuba. We work in coordination with the closest one. We don’t receive all cases, just those identified with a need for follow-up for psychological care and based on the characteristics of the patient. We are not the only service of this kind in the country, because there are other places in the city and in several provinces that also attend to these cases,” she explained.

She added that therapies used depend on the individual case of each patient. The majority are child molestation cases, with a greater prevalence among girls. The age range is between 10 and 13 years old. “With the first contact, we compose the clinical history specifying the psycho-sexual characteristics of the child. We work with the father, mother, or legal guardian. Then we follow up with periodic psychological evaluations, until we deem that they no longer require our services. We assess the extent of the psychological damage according to the trauma suffered. Then we work with the child in a therapeutic way in different work sessions,” the therapist added.

Ana María is one of the longest-serving workers in the institution, having dedicated more than 28 years to this task. She began very young, when she was still a university student. She approached the institution with the interest of undertaking training in topics related to sexuality, which offered her the opportunity to study several pathological cases, and she fell in love with the profession.

“This has been my school, I have seen this center grow,” she explained, something also recognized by young sociologist, Delia Rosa Suárez Socarrás, a specialist in CENESEX’s research and teaching department, who works on the social integration of LGTBI people.

“I have developed a number of skills here that I could not have acquired in another scenario. Here, the standards are high. Young people are trusted and therefore we are given a series of responsibilities in order to comprehensively grow and flourish.

“In addition to the commitment of the people who work here, and the issues that we address without distinction, knowing that you can learn skills for your daily life is very important,” Delia explained.

The young woman, who was born with a motor impairment, noted that working with the LGTBI community helps her to overcome her own difficulties. “In the academy, one thinks that it is the professional who provides all the knowledge, and yet, when you face different situations you realize that other people teach you every day. I am moved by the fact that they have suffered discrimination and exclusion in many areas of their lives. I’m talking about within the family, at school, workplaces, in communities, and they accumulate life stories that tend to be sad, and yet have many positive emotions to offer,” she stressed.

This opinion is also shared by Marais del Río Martín, who researches transsexual relationships. Like Delia, she is currently writing her graduate thesis. Both noted that working with these groups and wider society has reinforced their commitment to defend sexual diversity and respect for all sexual rights.

(Granma)

Under the motto of “Me incluyo” (I include myself), this year’s activities have been focused on raising awareness in schools and educational institutions regarding discrimination against the LGBTI community, working both with teachers and students.

On May 11, a cultural Gala was held in Havana’s Karl Marx Theater, with performances by Cuban and international artists, who came to together to celebrate diversity and promote respect for different sexual and gender identities.

The Director of the National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX), Mariela Castro, presented an award to the British LGBT activist, Mike Jackson, who was portrayed in the multi-award winning film Pride, based on the true story of the beginnings of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM), set up by activists who raised money to help families affected by the British miners’ strike in 1984.

Also awarded was Spanish actress Carla Antonelli, noted LGBT rights activist and the first trans person to serve in a legislature in Spain, as deputy to the Madrid Assembly for the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE).

Also announced was the posthumous award for Cuban journalist Isabel Moya, who served as director of the Editorial de la Mujer publishing house, until her recent death.

The audience spontaneously took to its feet as a children’s choir sung Silvio Rodríguez’s classic “La era,” also performed in sign language. Photo: Darío Gabriel Sánchez/Cubadebate.

The evening saw a varied and highly artistic show with performances that had those gathered dancing, singing along and laughing.

Spanish actress Antonia San Juan, popularly known for playing Estela Reynolds in the series La que se avecina and assuming the role of a transsexual in Pedro Almodóvar’s film All About My Mother, performed a monologue that sparked cries of “Bravo!” laughter and applause.

Another impressive moment was the performance by dancer Zeleidy Crespo, of Acosta Danza, in the solo Impronta, by Spanish choreographer María Rovira, a piece dedicated to the Afro-Cuban deity Yemayá.

Popular Cuban singers Laritza Bacallao and Hayla María Mompié captivated the audience with their powerful vocals, while drag artists Margot, Ashenal, Deborah and Universo Picasso impressed.

Under the motto of “Me incluyo” (I include myself), this year’s activities have been focused on tackling discrimination in schools and educational institutions. Photo: ACN/Ariel Ley Royero
The audience spontaneously took to its feet as a children’s choir sung Silvio Rodríguez’s classic “La era,” also performed in sign language.

Meanwhile, Spanish vocalist Beatriz Luengo conquered the audience with “Más que suerte” and “Dime si ahora,” as well as her own version of “Dos gardenias,” the most famous piece by Cuban composer Isolina Carrillo. Cuban pianist Cucurucho Valdés masterfully accompanied the Spanish singer and actress, and also played the Cuban National Anthem “La Bayamesa.”

The song “Cuba isla bella,” by the group Orishas, closed the evening event held in Havana’s Karl Marx Theater, sung by Laritza Bacallao, Hayla María Mompié, Alain Daniel, Diván, Project Voces and two of its composers, Beatriz Luengo and Yotuel Romero.

Also attending the Gala were Minister of Public Health, Roberto Morales, Secretary of the Council of State, Homero Acosta; the Ministers of Education and Higher Education, Ena Elsa Velázquez and José Ramón Saborido, respectively; among other government authorities.

CONGA AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA AND TRANSPHOBIA

On the evening of Saturday, May 12, the streets of Havana were awash with color as the Conga Against Homophobia and Transphobia paraded along the central Linea Street, culminating in a concert featuring stars such as Los Van Van, in the José Antonio Echeverría recreational center.

The Conga saw Cubans and international guests celebrate diversity in a festive atmosphere, which drew the attention of passers-by and residents, in a proud display of sexual and gender identities.

(Granma)

Mariela Castro Espín, director of Cene sex, highlighted the importance of informing and educating the Cuban population in the need to accept and respect free and responsible sexual orientation and gender identity, rights which when not respected by all, become a problem which generates suffering and exclusion.

In this regard she noted that this year Cenesex has launched a new campaign as part of its ongoing communicative and sex education strategy, which aims to promote, under the banner of “count me in,” homophobia or transphobia free work spaces.

“We have spent the last two years directing efforts toward the family sphere, and although we haven’t been able to include rights regarding sexual orientation and gender identity in the Family Code as we had hoped, our work has contributed to brining awareness to the population at all levels, including that of government, so that in the future these issues are not only incorporated into the Family Code but also the Cuban justice system,” emphasized Castro Espín.

Likewise, she noted that “one of the problems frequently identified by our center through the legal services regarding sexual orientation it provides to the population, is precisely that work spaces are one of the principal areas in which LGTBI (lesbian, gay, transgender, intersex) people are vulnerable.

Mariela Castro emphasized that although the inclusion of a recommendation against discrimination based on sexual orientation in the Work Code is an achievement, the incorporation of the concept of gender identity continues to be an unfulfilled demand.
The use of concepts in the principle of non-discrimination is very important, and although these concepts are subject to a constant processes of development – such as notions regarding gender or sexuality – they exist and are used in basic ethical principles,” she stated.
She also argued that generating consciousness is not something achieved through laws alone, but requires systematic educational efforts. The population will not discuss, reflect, concern itself about nor address these problems unless we put them on the table, as they generate suffering, injustice, exclusion, which is incoherent with the principles of revolutionary social justice. The policies and aspirations must be reflected in laws and concrete actions.

This year’s special program of activities include an ecumenical service and celebration of love, a symbolic act between same-sex couples or transsexuals to commemorate a sentimental connection like heterosexual couples, until such marriages are legalized.
The scientific event will begin this Wednesday with two panel discussion in the CTC, regarding how to make work places spaces of inclusion.
Another of this event’s objectives is to promote the creation of personal, family and social conditions in which men and women can fully exercise their sexual rights, free from exclusion based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
It also aims to promote respect and acceptance toward people with HIV with an emphasis on the most vulnerable groups; to combat and overcome all forms of discrimination and gender based violence, in particular, against men and women due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

(Diario Granma)

Tuesday, May 29, 2012,
7 – 8:30 p.m.

In 2010 the Cuban government began providing sex reassignment surgery free of charge as part of their universal healthcare. This was the result of several years of work by the Cuban National Center for Sex Education under the leadership of Mariela Castro Espín, niece of Fidel Castro and daughter of current Cuban president Raúl Castro. The current developments in LGBT rights in Cuba are remarkable given the discrimination suffered by gays, lesbians, and transgender people in Cuba in the 20th century, as well as comparison with current LGBT movements in the U.S. and abroad. Please join us on  Tuesday May 29th at 7pm in the Trustees Room of the New York Public Library ’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building as Mariela Castro Espín and Rea Carey, Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, discuss the current international context of LGBT rights, including issues of sexual identity and orientation in contemporary Cuba.

Mariela Castro Espín is the director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX). She was President of the Cuban Society for the Multidisciplinary Study of Sexuality (SOCUMES) from 2000 to 2010. She is president of the Cuban Multidisciplinary Centre for the Study of Sexuality, president of the National Commission for Treatment of Disturbances of Gender Identity, member of the Direct Action Group for Preventing, Confronting, and Combatting AIDS, and an executive member of the World Association for Sexual Health (WAS). She is also the director of the journal Sexología y Sociedad, a magazine of Sexology edited by her own National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX). She is the author of 9 books, published in Cuba and abroad, among them Transexuality in Cuba (Havana, CENESEX Publishing House, 2008). In 2009 she was awarded with the Public Service Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS), and in 2012 she received the Eureka Award for Academic Excellence, given by the World Council of University Academy (COMAU).She is married with 3 children.

Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, is one of the most prominent leaders in the U.S. lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights movement. Carey, who came to the Task Force in 2004 as deputy executive director, has served as executive director since 2008. Through her leadership, Carey has advanced a vision of fairness and justice for LGBT people and their families that is broad, inclusive and unabashedly progressive. Prior to her work with the Task Force, Carey worked extensively in HIV/AIDS prevention and in the LGBT community as one of the co-founders of Gay Men and Lesbians Opposing Violence and the founding executive director of the National Youth Advocacy Coalition. She has also served as an advisor to major donors and foundations, and has served on the advisory boards for such wide-ranging publications as Teen People magazine and the Georgetown University Journal of Gender and the Law. She serves on the Advisory Board of theLGBTQ Policy Journal, of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government

A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann

I bought it this morning at my nearest news-stand and I first read it throughout while standing in the bus, then after I found a seat and finally in my office. I devoured the base document for the National Conference of the Communist Party of Cuba to be held next January. It was published last Friday and contains two explicit references to sexual orientation, something unheard of in our country.

Among the objectives that the Party must focus on heretofore- which will be discussed by all grass roots members- are these two:

54. Confront racial, gender, religious, sexual orientation and other prejudices that may generate any form of discrimination or limit people from exercising their rights to, among others, occupy public posts, and participate in the political and mass organizations and in the defense of the country.

65. To reflect in the audiovisual media, the printed and digital press Cuban reality in all its diversity regarding the economic, labor and social situation, gender, skin color, religious beliefs, sexual orientation and territorial origin.

Furthermore, the document’s introduction states that “the current challenges require (…) confronting prejudices and discrimination of all kinds that still persist in society”.

There is much more to be said about these purposes which we Cuban militants will be discussing shortly. These reflect the numerous consultations conducted after the VI Party Congress held last April where in some of them I was able to voice my personal views together with othe activists of the LGBT groups within the social networks of CENESEX (National Center for Sexual Education), and also with regards to the press.

With regards to the specific topic of sexual diversity, the enunciation is sufficiently broad to cover a series of transformations that are necessary to guarantee respect for the free sexual orientation and gender identity in Cuba. This has to do with the legal status of homosexual unions and the participation of LGBT persons in responsibilities of any kind, including military institutions.

The issues are on the table but substantiating, persuading, establishing and regulating will be no easy tasks. There is still much to be done.