A conga against homophobia and transphobia, organized by the National Center for Sexual Education (Cenesex), toured the 3rd street of El Vedado, in Havana, this Saturday. The demonstration, which brought together hundreds of people, is the first of its kind to take place after the approval in 2022 of the Family Code that legalized equal marriage.
The parade that takes place every year in May, although it was suspended during the covid-19 pandemic, is entitled “For all families, love is law” and is led by the director of Cenesex, Mariela Castro, daughter of the former ruler Raúl Castro. The wife of Miguel Díaz-Canel also attended the tour, Lis Cuesta.
The most chanted phrases during the tour were “Socialism yes, homophobia no”, “What are we celebrating? That love is the law!”, “Socialism yes, homophobia no”, “Down with the blockade, up with love!”. The tour concluded with a presentation of drag queens and a concert by Manolito Simonet and his Trabuco.
Castro declared on national television the day before that “the rights of the LGBT community were a pending issue in the revolutionary process.”
The demonstration is called around May 11, because Cenesex seeks to avoid it coinciding with June 28, the day on which Gay Pride is celebrated internationally because Castro has shown his reluctance with the date and has called not to imitate the festivities that take place on that day in the United States.
This Saturday, Castro declared on national television the day before that “the rights of the LGBT community were a pending issue in the revolutionary process, since sufficient consensus had not yet been achieved to develop a policy and express it in the legislative system.”
“However, the new Constitution of the Republic of 2019 included principles that guarantee the rights of all people, without any type of discrimination,” added the director of Cenesex, quoted by Cubadebate.
The conga did not manage to invite all the LGBTI organizations that exist on the island, some of which have preferred in previous years to hold their own demonstrations that have resulted in arrests, threats and strong police operations.
The most notorious of these demonstrations occurred on May 11, 2019 and was harshly repressed by the authorities. On that day, the activists met in the Central Park of Havana to demonstrate in favor of diversity on the island and at least seven people were violently detained.
On that day, the activists met in the Central Park of Havana to demonstrate in favor of diversity on the island and at least seven people were arrested.
Last week, Mariel Castro was involved in a new controversy when Brenda Díaz, the trans woman, was sentenced to 14 years and seven months in prison on charges of public disorder, sabotage and contempt for participating in the protests on July 11, 2021. , responded to the director of Cenesex who days before had described as “oversized and full of fantasies” the situation of the detainee.
In an audio, Díaz assured that she is tired of “the fallacies that they have put into her [refiriéndose a la directora del Cenesex] and all the personnel of this country on this prison”.
The young woman, who is in the male wing of a prison for HIV carriers in Güines, Mayabeque, denounces that the establishment is not subject to the control of the national prison authorities “so they can see all the bad things that are here.”
As an example, he gave the food – “Here it is sancocho, there is no one who eats it” – and the medical attention: “Right now I am flying with a fever, with a cold and with everything, and there is not even a duralgin to give me”.
In addition, he urged Castro, also a parliamentary deputy, “when he comes back, to make an unscheduled visit” and to go “through the detachments so that he can talk with the prison population.”
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio He is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for accompanying us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
