Cuba - GlobalGayz

Contents:

• THERE’S A GAY BEACH HAVANA! DISVERG LGBT LIFE CUBA
• CUBANS APPROVE GAY MARRIAGE BY LARGE MARG REFERENDUM
• WHERE CUBA’S GAYS MEET UP
• CUBA WANTS YOU TO THK IT’S A GAY PARADISE. IT’S NOT.
• CUBA'S FIRST GAY HOTEL REOPENS AS HUMAN RIGHTS TERRATE
• GAY AND PROUR CUBA
• GAY CUBA

THERE’S A GAY BEACH HAVANA! DISVERG LGBT LIFE CUBA

Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, A man sts his ballot on Sunday HavanaCuba has voted to legalise same-sex marriage a natnal two-thirds of the populatn voted to approve reforms a new Fay Co, which will also allow surrogate pregnanci and give gay upl the right to adopt marks a big moment for Cuba, which saw gay people persecuted and sent to work mps the 1960s and 70s. Official attus towards homosexualy on the Communist-n island have changed over the past s, partly thanks to the efforts of former lear Raúl Castro's dghter the early part of munist lear Fil Castro's le after the 1959 revolutn, homosexual men and women were sent to work mps for supposed "re-tn".

The openly gay wrer fought tirelsly agast the homophobia that had effect bee stutnalized Cuba the two s followg the 1959 revolutn.

Now, as the ernment tak gradual steps to advote for LGBT Cubans, some gay activists on the island are g Arenas’ memory to move their e forward.

CUBANS APPROVE GAY MARRIAGE BY LARGE MARG REFERENDUM

“Arenas’ legacy is a paful one for the gay muny Cuba, ” said Maykel González Vivero, an pennt journalist and gay activist the cy of Sagua la Gran.

WHERE CUBA’S GAYS MEET UP

As a wrer, both his surrealist lerary style and the strong them of homosexualy his work bucked accepted norms, and his work was banned startg wh his send novel. “Arenas is, many ways, a mentor for a morn generatn of gay wrers, ” said Rafael Os, a profsor at Agn Stt College who has wrten two books and numero articl on Arenas’ life. It’s not hard to see why Arenas’ legacy of rebelln and stggle uld strike a particular nerve for gay Cubans livg a plited – and changg – untry.

CUBA WANTS YOU TO THK IT’S A GAY PARADISE. IT’S NOT.

One activist, Francis Rodríguez Cz, hasn’t let the past experienc of gay men like Arenas terme his stance toward the late lear’s revolutnary ials. Cz pots to the work of Mariela Castro, Fil Castro’s niece and dghter of current Print Raúl Castro, who has actively fought for an end to homophobia as director of Cuba’s Natnal Center for Sexual Edutn.

She often leads march agast homophobia and has advoted for allowg transgenr people to have genr nfirmatn surgery, which is now vered by the state. Before this, there was a long perd of tolerance; after the 1959 revolutn gay people were imprisoned “rehabilatn” mps and discrimatn was rife.

This was due to pre-existg machismo culture that was further strengthened by a revolutn that saw difference as a danger and felt gay men were products of nt palism. In 1993 Fil Castro, the then-Print, stated his opposn to anti-LGBT polici; he took rponsibily for the persecutn of homosexuals 2010. While there have been large grassroots movements for gay marriage, there have also been those agast ; church, for example, have released statements clarg marriage as exclively “between a man and a woman” and put up posters wh this msage.

CUBA'S FIRST GAY HOTEL REOPENS AS HUMAN RIGHTS TERRATE

The history for trans people Cuba is equally as dark and shameful as that for gay people; machismo also has a big impact as trans women are seen as ‘renouncg’ their masculy. In more nservative areas gay travellers uld be met wh some surprised or hostile rpons, although there are almost no reports of this.

As discsed above, if gay travellers are lookg for somewhere that they n be open about their sexualy (and fd a great gay nightlife! Havana is the hub of the LGBT muny, although there are also gay havens plac like Santa Clara and Mi Cayo beach (about 15 east of Havana).

GAY AND PROUR CUBA

Usually this sectn, we say that ternatnal brand cha hotels are the saft bet for gay travellers who want a strs-ee trip. We would remend dog some rearch before partg, however, to see what hotels or gutho are remend by other gay travellers. AirBnb is also beg more popular wh lols as a way to make money, so ’s worth checkg out the optns there and readg the reviews to see if they are gay-iendly.

For gay travellers who want to experience the LGBT scene of the untry, headg to the gay bars and clubs of Havana is a great place to start. The limatns on ter Cuba have meant that gay people meet each other a more ‘old-school’ way – flirtg nightclubs and public parks, cisg at the Malecón. Gay travellers should not feel ncerned about g , but shouldn’t be surprised if someone they’re chattg to giv them a number to phone.

GAY CUBA

We have put together a list of our favore gay hook up apps to e while travelg, but you might also want to bsh up on your cisg etiquette if you want some simple fun…. The other posive thg is that more gay travellers provi support for LGBT rights Cuba; gay travellers n make the effort to support gay-owned or gay-iendly bs as well.

In the early 1960’s, after Fil Castro took power, many gay people were sent to ernment work mps alongsi polil dissints. Mariela Castro, the dghter of former Cuban print Rl Castro, has openly advoted through a ernment-fund center for improved rights for gays, lbians and transgenr people.

In 2018, Cuban legislators abandoned provisns that would have legalized same sex marriage amid fears that a homophobic backlash would have lowered turnout for a referendum to approve a new nstutn. My iend and I had arrived at Mi Cayo beach Cuba, a stretch of shorele 15 east of Havana, search of gay Cuba travel experienc. It looked as though the beach extend que a distance both directns, so we were unsure where to fd the gay sectn of beach that supposedly existed.