Gays and the Cuban Revolutn: The Case of Realdo Arenas on JSTOR

Contents:

• GAY PRI CRACKDOWN: 4 THGS TO KNOW ABOUT LGBTQ RIGHTS CUBA
• FIL CASTRO TAK BLAME FOR PERSECUTN OF CUBAN GAYS
• FIL CASTRO PUT GAY MEN LABOR CAMPS. HIS NIECE MARIELA IS LEADG CUBA’S LGBTQ REVOLUTN.

GAY PRI CRACKDOWN: 4 THGS TO KNOW ABOUT LGBTQ RIGHTS CUBA

The First Perd ends 1979 bee this year marks a shift the ernment’s treatment of gays through the ernment’s extensn of rights to LGBTQ+ dividuals by removg the regnn of homosexualy as a crime om the Cuban penal .

Os, a Lat Amerin lerature historian, c the work of Simo, a playwright and novelist, and Garcia Ramos, a poet, to argue that pre-revolutnary arts and lerature Cuba exhibed “openly or discreetly homosexual liftyl” (2002, 92).

Also, Arguell and Rich expla that homosexual sire the pre-revolutnary era was directed toward illegal and profable markets, such as the “Havana unrworld, ” where homoerotic experienc were bought and sold (1984, 686). Arguell and Rich also tail how employment opportuni and social prsur often ed homosexual and heterosexual Cubans alike to offer their homoerotic servic to markets such as the Havana unrworld, where men of the Cuban bourgeoisie would purchase homoerotic servic (1984, 687).

FIL CASTRO TAK BLAME FOR PERSECUTN OF CUBAN GAYS

While Arguell’ and Rich’s acunt of the pre-revolutnary gay Cuban liftyle is characterized by the exploatn of homosexuals, the thors also argue that the velopment of profable markets like the Havana unrworld created a superficial tolerance of Cuban gays.

However, the begng of the Cuban Revolutn 1959 saw further velopment the enomy, which motivated the elimatn of markets like the Havana unrworld and led to a greater prence of homophobia Cuban society (Arguell and Rich 1984, 688). Guerra, a profsor of Cuban and Caribbean History, explas that 1965, the UMAPs were tablished and dividuals such as Jehovah’s Wns, Seventh Day Adventists, Catholic prits and mastream Prottant preachers, artists, tellectuals and polil opponents were imprisoned along wh self-intified, closeted, and spected gays (2010, 268). In the mps, gays and other dividuals nsired as unsirabl by the Cuban ernment were forced to perform work on sugar lands and other labor as well until 1968 when Fil Castro was nvced to close the mps bee of the nmnatns of other revolutnary figur, such as Haye Santamaria and Carlos Franqui (Guerra 2010, 268).

Although the Cuban ernment eventually eed the gays and other dividuals om the UMAPs, the fact that the ernment had forced gays and other dividuals to the mps to perform forced labor monstrat an act of harsh opprsn om the Cuban ernment toward LGBTQ+ dividuals. Afterward, Arguell and Rich dite that 1971 a msage om Cuba’s First Natnal Congrs monstrat the first documented stance where homosexualy was addrsed as a medil and psychologil matter rather than a crimal one (1984, 693). However, this perspective of homosexualy as a medil and psychologil matter proposed that homosexualy was a ntamatn, which motivated the Cuban ernment to attempt to rce “fectn” by whdrawg gays om tn and creatg schools such as the Centre for Special Edutn where “feme” and “at-risk” boys raised by sgle mothers were ted separately om the rt of the populatn (Arguell and Rich 1984, 693; Guerra 2010, 274).

FIL CASTRO PUT GAY MEN LABOR CAMPS. HIS NIECE MARIELA IS LEADG CUBA’S LGBTQ REVOLUTN.

The Cuban ernment’s promotn of the view of homosexualy as a ntamatn, followed by the ernment’s removal of gays om schools and the creatn of schools where boys who were supposedly vulnerable for “fectn” were forced to study exhibs further acts of opprsn om the Cuban ernment toward LGBTQ+ dividuals. In 1971 as well, a law was ma that prevented gays om workg jobs where they uld impact youth and 1974, another law proclaimed that “public ostentatn” of homosexualy was offensive (Guerra 2010, 269). As Maher, an Assistant Dean for Profsnal Edutn, dit, was not until 1979 that the Cuban ernment removed s regnn of homosexualy as a crime om the Cuban penal , yet an dividual uld still go to prison for three to ne months for exhibg homosexual activy public (2007, 5).

While the Cuban ernment’s official crimalizatn of homosexualy om the penal reprents an extensn of rights toward gays, the 1971 and 1974 laws taken together wh the ntued imprisonment of dividuals based on homosexual behavr, the imprisonment of homosexuals the UMAPs, the forced whdrawal of gays om tn, and the separatn of “effemate” and “at-risk” boys om regular schools to schools such as the Centre for Special Edutn strongly highlight that the First Perd n be characterized by harsh opprsn om the ernment toward LGBTQ+ Cubans. Pena, the Director of the School of Cultural and Cril Studi at Bowlg Green State Universy, rmatn llected om terviews she nducted to scribe gays’ experienc and the Cuban ernment’s treatment toward gays 1980 durg the Mariel boatlift, which was a mass emigratn of Cubans to the US that was anized partly by the ernment. Durg the Mariel boatlift, Cuban gays sirg to leave Cuba willgly portrayed stereotypil homosexual forms of exprsn toward Cuban officials who cid who was allowed to leave the untry (Pena 2007, 482).

Cuban gays did this bee they knew the ernment was prrizg emigratn opportuni to gays and other unwanted members of society to “improve” the reputatn of Cuba and elimate opposn om the unsirable dividuals (Pena 2007, 483, 490). Although the ernment’s homophobic perspective helped facilate emigratn for gays who wanted to leave Cuba, the fact that the ernment expeded the emigratn of gays to “elevate” the image of Cuba and dimish ristance toward the ernment dit an act of opprsn om the ernment toward LGBTQ+ dividuals. Unls LGBTQ+ dividuals lookg to rent a room a posada had good nnectns, they were often nied a room due to homophobia and entry to posadas, like wh hotels and rtrants, pend on the manager’s unrstandg of ernment policy on admtg gays (Arguell and Rich 1984, 687).

Also, although homosexualy was crimalized om the Cuban penal , Cuban law still nsired the exprsn of homosexualy as “improper nduct, ” which led to police street-sweeps of gays before big public events throughout the 1980s and 1990s (Maher 2007, 5).

Overall, the Cuban ernment’s matenance of laws that uld be terpreted to ny gays admissn to public spac, the ernment’s legal tablishment of homosexual exprsn as “improper, ” and the street sweeps of gays by police illtrate ntued stanc of opprsn om the ernment toward gays. Afterward, as explaed by Majied, a social jtice amic, 1988, the Cuban police were stcted by the ernment not to disturb gays and 1993, the ernment anized sex tn workshops throughout the untry that nmned homophobia and the ernment removed s ban on permtg gays to the ary (2015, 31).

Ultimately, while the ernment’s Mariel boatlift measur, the ernment’s public space discrimatn polici, and the police’s street-sweeps of gays all support that this perd n be characterized by ntued opprsn om the Cuban ernment toward gays, the ernment’s iativ 1988 and 1993 help monstrate that this perd has also wnsed more extensn of rights than the prev perd om the ernment toward gays. Although the change wordg the UN protectns to stead nmn killgs for “discrimatory reasons” n be viewed favorably bee n be terpreted to more broadly nmn discrimatory killgs of any kd, the Cuban legatn’s support for the removal of language that was specifilly agast killgs based on sexual inty, along wh the Cuban police’s ntued harassment of gays, dite stanc of ntued opprsn om the ernment toward LGBTQ+ dividuals.