Mariela Castro Calls for Marriage Equality in Cuba

Mariela Castro, the daughter and niece of former Cuban presidents, says she'll push for marriage equality in Cuba during the nation's constitutional reform process that begins this summer.

Castro, a longtime LGBT rights advocate, told reporters Friday that her organization, the National Center for Sexual Education (Cenesex), will submit proposals on same-sex marriage and other LGBT rights, the Washington Blade reports. The National Assembly, of which she is a member, is expected to convene in July to start updating Cuba's constitution, last revised in 1976, It currently defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Castro is the daughter of former Cuban President Raul Castro and niece of his brother and predecessor, Fidel Castro. Under Fidel Castro's long regime, Cuban gays were severely persecuted. Many gay men were sent to work camps, and people with HIV were quarantined until 1993. Fidel Castro, who died in 2016, eventually apologized for the camps.

The Cuban government has gradually become more accommodating to LGBT people. It repealed its sodomy law in 1979, and since 2008 the national health care plan has offered free gender-confirmation surgery, the Blade notes.

Mariela Castro made her remarks about constitutional reform at a press conference in Havana. LGBT activists not affiliated with her group have called for marriage rights as well.