Cuba Cancels Gay Pride Parade

By Sue Katz, Consenting Adult. Posted July 1, 2008.

Cuba's very first gay pride march was planned for June 25th, the Guardian, a British daily, reported, but the organizers were wary. It's true that just a month ago Raul Castro's daughter, Mariela (pictured below) spoke against homophobia at a public rally in her role as head of Cuba's National Centre for Sex Education. Even though this seemed to signal a desirable attitude change at the national level, it's certainly not queer heaven. Havana-based Aliomar Janjaque, a gay activist, pointed out that continuing discrimination towards LGBT people ranges from workplace bias to some folks still being jailed for same-sex passion.

The march was to be a collaborative project between Cuban gays in Cuba and in Florida. One key Florida supporter, Arturo Alvarez, was prescient in his concerns: "We'll see with this parade if openness has really been achieved."

Unfortunately, the Guardian reported in a follow-up story the next day, the event was canceled "moments before it was to begin." Aliomar Janjaque, the president of the Foundation LGTB Reinaldo Arenas in Memoriam, and his fellow activist, the president of the Cuban League Against AIDS, were intending to deliver a set of demands to the Justice Department when they were arrested. They were asking for a governmental apology "for its past repression and, in some cases, incarceration of openly gay citizens, and the inhumane treatment of prisoners with AIDS."

The Cuban Catholic Church, the AP reported, had just a couple of days earlier complained about the government "promoting" homosexuality, in response to Mariela Castro's speech against homophobia and the announcement of "government-paid sex changes for 28 people who have undergone extensive study after requesting the surgery."

Instead of the canceled gay pride gathering, Arturo Alvarez held a solidarity rally at his Latin dance and drag club in Miami. Ironically enough, the aborted march had been set to begin at Havana's aptly named Don Quixote Park.

See more stories tagged with: cuba, sexuality, gay rights

Sue Katz has published journalism on the three continents where she has lived; her topics range from Middle East peace movements to the impact of ageing on sexuality. Visit her blog at www.suekatz.com

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