The daughter of
Cuba's new president is urging the Cuban National
Assembly to adopt a law protecting LGBT rights, arguably the
most liberal bill of its kind in Latin America.
Mariela Castro,
Raul's daughter, is the head of the National Center for
Sex Education. The proposed legislation would recognize
same-sex unions, including inheritance rights, allow
free gender-reassignment operations for transgender
people, and allow transgender people to change their
identification records without first having to undergo
surgery. The bill, however, does not allow adoption
for gay couples, nor does it push for marriage
equality. "A lot of homosexual couples asked me to not
risk delaying getting the law passed by insisting on the
word marriage," she said, according to BBC News.
"In Cuba marriage is not as important as the family, and at
least this way we can guarantee the personal and
inheritance rights of homosexuals and transsexuals."
Castro said she
has seen her father become less homophobic as she's grown
up, and that he is supportive of her work, though he warns
her to move cautiously. Her mother, the late Vilma
Espin, was an internationally heralded women's rights
advocate.
During the early
days of the Cuban Revolution, gays were sent to forced
labor camps for reeducation and rehabilitation. While the
camps were not in use very long, gays were still
labeled "ideological deviants." According to the
article, gay and lesbian sex was legalized 15 years ago,
but police raids on gay events has persisted until recently.
"In the early
years of the revolution much of the world was
homophobic. It was the same here in Cuba and led to acts
which I consider unjust," she said. "What I see now is
that both Cuban society and the government have
realized that these were mistakes. There is also the
desire to take initiatives which would prevent such things
happening again." (The Advocate)