Cuba Approves Same-Sex Marriage in Historic Vote
As the Cuban revolutionaries quickly gained ground in their 1958 offensive and were able to oust dictator Fulgencio Batista on the eve of the new year, it signaled to all around the world the momentous changes awaiting the restless nation. Spearheaded by Che Guevera, the revolutionaries wanted to recultivate their spark of revolution by essentially remaking Cuba and, by extension, the world. By adopting a new utopian way of thinking, they tried to diversify and industrialize the country, launch literacy campaigns and proclaim the formation of a new consciousness, a “new man.” (Dawson 214). The “new man” was literal; women and sexuality were to be relegated to a conservative framework as before. For all of their posture of progressive revolution, the creation of the “new man” was a relic of Latin America’s machismo attitude. Like caudillos of the past, Fidel Castro’s bombastic attitude and heterosexual masculinity were lionized all the meanwhile homosexuals were being prosecuted as their sexuality was perceived as debauchery (Dawson 214). Those who failed to fit the classification of cis-hetero males were either subjugated or reduced to subservience.
Efforts were made to rectify the issues of patriarchal domination as by the 1960s, women found it easier to pursue a career, get a divorce, make their own reproductive decisions and in 1975 passed, the Family Code requiring men to divide the labor in the household to mixed results (Dawson 215). In an interview with Carmen Lira for the Mexican newspaper, La Jornada, Fidel Castro apologizes and takes full blame for the persecution of homosexuals during the 60s and 70s, who were subjected to imprisonment or firing squads. There is no justification for the leader’s action; however, Castro attempts to paint the picture of what he and the country were dealing with during that period. According to Castro, the threat of the CIA had made him oblivious to the plight of homosexuals (BBC Staff 2010). In 2008, it would be Fidel Castro’s niece, Mariela Castro (and director of the National Center for Sex Education), who would be the one to call for radical changes toward gay and transexual rights. Attempting to sway the Cuban National Assembly to pass legislation recognizing same-sex unions and allowing transexuals free transition operations, the proposed legislation excluded adoption and marriage out of fear of stiff resistance, further delaying the law (Voss 2008).
It was not until September 2022 that Cuba successfully passed a referendum allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt (Medina 2022). Whenever these western articles mention the passing of these “family laws,” there is an emphasis on the legalization of same-sex marriage; while the law has made same-sex marriage legal, it goes beyond that and further deconstructs the nuclear family unit that is seen as typical within a heteronormative society like Latin America. The 100-page law allows surrogate pregnancies, further protection for grandparents and children, and measures against gender violence (Medina 2022).
Gay marriage has never been seen as the end goal for the LGBTQ community; it is for the total acceptance of who they are and who they choose to be that fills them with aspiration. Unfortunately, the articles and the titles that proliferate them make it seem as if Cuba is just now “catching up” to the western world. Although the law is a sign of progress, nearly 33% of the population opposed the law, as a large number of these individuals were members of the growing evangelical movement. But as more Latin American countries adopt same-sex marriage, like Costa Rica in 2020, the region can start to strip away the notion of machismo as “love is law in the island of freedom”(Medina 2022).
Work Cited:
BBC Staff. “Fidel Castro Takes Blame for Persecution of Cuban Gays.” BBC News, 31 Aug. 2010.
Dawson, Alexander. Latin America since Independence a History with Primary Sources. Vol. 3, ROUTLEDGE, 2022.
Voss, Michael. “Castro Champions Gay Rights in Cuba.” BBC News, 17 Mar. 2008.