|
In
the
wake
of
recent
reports
that
the
Cuban
government
effectively
squelched
a
gay
pride
demonstration
June
25,
members
of
Miami’s
Cuban
GLBT
community
are
saying
the
regime’s
new
policy
of
openness
under
Mariela
Castro
Espin
is
a
ruse.
“What
we
feel
is
that
Mariela
Castro
is
trying
to
use
Cuba’s
gay
community
to
show
openness
of
regime
for
the
consumption
of
outsiders,”
said
Ron
Brenesky,
vice
president
of
Unity
Coalition.
“We
say
the
government
is
lying.
There
is
no
change.”
Brenesky
led
a
press
conference
last
week
at
Miami’s
Azucar
nightclub
to
protest
the
aborted
march
in
Havana’s
Don
Quixote
Park.
The
demonstration,
organized
by
several
dissident
GLBT
groups
in
Havana,
was
billed
as
Cuba’s
first-ever
gay
pride
march.
Organizers
planned
to
march
from
the
park
in
Havana’s
downtown
Vedado
district
to
the
Ministry
of
Justice
to
demand
that
the
government
stop
repression
against
Cuba’s
gays
and
lesbians,
and
to
apologize
for
running
concentration
camps
for
homosexuals
and
religious
youth.
About
100
people
were
expected
to
participate,
but
as
the
day
drew
nearer
and
increasing
numbers
of
international
reporters
turned
their
attention
to
the
march,
many
of
the
Cuban
demonstrators
may
have
been
intimidated,
Brenesky
said.
One
organizer,
Ignacio
Estrada
Cepero,
leader
of
the
Cuban
Foundation
for
Human
Rights
for
People
with
HIV
was
detained
for
a
few
hours
and
then
released
by
authorities.
Another
gay
leader
Aliomar
Janjaque
Chibas,
president
of
the
LGBT
Foundation
Reinaldo
Arenas
in
Memoriam
was
not
allowed
to
leave
his
home
to
participate.
Janjaque
told
reporters
he
believed
that
Mariela
Castro’s
initiatives
are
“good
and
valid.”
However,
he
said
his
group
believes
there
is
more
work
to
be
done.
The
march
comes
amid
changes
in
gay
Cuba
that
observers
call
dramatic.
This
year
Mariela
Castro,
daughter
of
the
country’s
leader
Raul
Castro,
implemented
several
initiatives
that
suggest
that
the
island
nation
is
moving
toward
a
new
open
stance
on
gay
issues.
Historically,
gays,
lesbians
and
transgender
Cubans
have
lived
largely
underground.
Gay
parties
are
hosted
in
private
home
instead
of
nightclubs
and
they
continue
to
be
raided
by
police.
On
May
18,
however,
the
National
Center
for
Sex
Education
(CENESEX),
a
government
agency
led
by
Mariela
Castro,
sponsored
a
day
of
gay
pride
that
included
a
forum
on
sexuality
and
gender
identity,
as
well
as
state-supported
event
featuring
Cuban
drag
performers.
In
June,
CENESEX
organized
a
day
against
homophobia
and
hosted
a
gay
pride-oriented
beach
party
at
Guanabo
Beach,
a
popular
meeting
spot
among
Cuba’s
gays.
On
June
16
the
government
announced
that
it
would
conduct
state-sponsored
sex-change
operations.
But
despite
the
advances,
the
Miami
factions
remain
watchful.
“What
the
failed
march
tells
is
that
the
Cuba’s
policies
are
hypocritical,”
said
Efren
Martinez,
a
freelance
reporter
for
US-sponsored
Radio
Marti.
“The
government
and
Cuban
society
continues
to
be
homophobic.”
 |
 |
| The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by floridablade.com. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed. |
|
|
