The national election commission said on Monday the Cuban people had fully approved a sweeping referendum that would allow same-sex couples to marry and adopt children, the national election commission said today. Monday, a resounding victory for LGBTQ rights advocates in a country that once sent gay men into labor camps.
About 67 percent of voters, nearly 4 million, voted in favor, follow to the Cuban government. About 33%, or 2 million people, oppose the measure.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel, the first person who is not Castro to lead the country since the 1959 revolution, commemorating the passage of the 100-page referendum, said in a statement that “love is now the law.”
Passing the law, he said, is a way to “pay off the debt of various generations of Cubans, whose domestic plans have been waiting for this law for years.”
“As of today,” he added, “we will be a better country.”
The 100-page referendum – which also expanded protections for women, children and the elderly – was met with opposition from the Roman Catholic Church.
Although the measure passed with ease, it did not receive the near-universal support typical of government-backed proposals in Cuba, where rates often exceed 90%.
Alberto R. Coll, a law professor at DePaul University and an expert on America’s relations with Cuba, says that opposition stems from a growing missionary movement in Cuba, as well as a tradition. old machismo.
But the measure was passed in large part because many residents believe that “these are issues that the law should not be strictly regulated,” and its time is long overdue, Professor Coll said.
The law also allows surrogacy, includes measures to combat gender-based violence, and encourages couples to share housework equally.
Other Latin American countries have taken similar steps in recent years to address gay rights. In 2020, Costa Rica legalized same-sex marriage, and in 2019, Ecuador’s Constitutional Court ruled that same-sex couples can marry.
Mr. Díaz-Canel and his government have publicly supported the passage of the referendum. But some of his critics say his support is a way for him to show a free face in the face of political and economic discontent on the island.
Officials had to deal with the worst financial crisis to hit the country since the 1990s, along with demands for political and social change. Last year, those factors drove the largest island Demonstration for many decades.
“This is a way for him to say, ‘Look, you know, we’re not so harsh,'” Professor Coll said.
But even putting the law to the vote – a rare move in the country – has upset some LGBTQ rights advocates.
Juan Pappier and Cristian González Cabrera, researchers at Human Rights Watch, wrote in a pillar It is false for the Cuban government to participate in a “political contest aimed at making individual rights, including the right of gay and lesbian couples free from discrimination, a popular vote” wrong.
They added that “the authorities are respecting the fundamental rights to a political football between supporters of equality and non-discrimination and their opponents.”
However, the law is a complete departure from the old views that have dominated the country. The Cuban government once considered homosexuality a dangerous mistake. In the 1960s, Fidel Castro’s revolutionary government helped spread homophobia on the island when he sent gay men into labor camps, a form of punishment and coercion. follow.
His niece, Mariela Castro, led the charge for LGBTQ rights in Cuba, as director of the National Center for Sex Education. She said she was proud that the law was passed.
“Now,” she said, “love is the law on the island of freedom.”
