Castro Daughter Champions Gay Rights  | News | Advocate.com

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March 28, 2008
Castro Daughter Champions Gay Rights

The daughter of Cuba's new president is urging the Cuban National Assembly to adopt a law protecting LGBT rights, arguably the most liberal bill of its kind in Latin America.

Mariela Castro, Raul's daughter, is the head of the National Center for Sex Education. The proposed legislation would recognize same-sex unions, including inheritance rights, allow free gender-reassignment operations for transgender people, and allow transgender people to change their identification records without first having to undergo surgery. The bill, however, does not allow adoption for gay couples, nor does it push for marriage equality. "A lot of homosexual couples asked me to not risk delaying getting the law passed by insisting on the word marriage," she said, according to BBC News. "In Cuba marriage is not as important as the family, and at least this way we can guarantee the personal and inheritance rights of homosexuals and transsexuals."

Castro said she has seen her father become less homophobic as she's grown up, and that he is supportive of her work, though he warns her to move cautiously. Her mother, the late Vilma Espin, was an internationally heralded women's rights advocate.

During the early days of the Cuban Revolution, gays were sent to forced labor camps for reeducation and rehabilitation. While the camps were not in use very long, gays were still labeled "ideological deviants." According to the article, gay and lesbian sex was legalized 15 years ago, but police raids on gay events has persisted until recently.

"In the early years of the revolution much of the world was homophobic. It was the same here in Cuba and led to acts which I consider unjust," she said. "What I see now is that both Cuban society and the government have realized that these were mistakes. There is also the desire to take initiatives which would prevent such things happening again." (The Advocate)

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