The two women married in September, surrounded by a small group of LGBTQ activists in the coastal city of Matanzas. But their alliance is not recognized by the Cuban government, at least not yet.
“It’s a legal right, and we should all be equal before the law. It’s a matter of human rights,” Yennys Hernandez told CNN shortly after her wedding at the Metropolitan Community Church, a close church. LGBTQ-friendly, one of the few on the island to perform same-sex marriages.
After the church service, the couple reminded friends and family members who had gathered to vote on the new family code.
“I believe we are all equal in our rights, choices, abilities, and citizenship and exercise that citizenship. I don’t think we are any less than the rest of society.” Annery Rivera said that if the new family rule is passed, she and Hernandez will hold a civil wedding which means in the eyes of the Cuban state they are legally husband and wife.
A long wait for decades
According to the Cuban government, the 100-page family code provides better protections for women, children and the elderly, and allows LGBTQ couples to marry and adopt children.
Members of the LGBTQ community in Cuba have been waiting for this moment for decades.
But some are also afraid of backlash if the code is passed.
After the 1959 revolution, homosexuals were among those sent to labor camps called Army Units to Help Production along with dissidents, priests and others. were considered unpopular by the new government of Fidel Castro. Some gays and lesbians even said they performed fake marriages to avoid suspicion.
Castro later apologized for the treatment of homosexuals but the full nature of how many people were sent to forced labor camps and who ordered their creation has never been released. government revealed.
In 1979, homosexuality was legalized in Cuba, although many gay men and women say they still face open discrimination.
In 1993, the Cuban film “Strawberries and Chocolate” about the unlikely friendship between a young pro-revolutionary man and an elderly gay man was released and caused a controversy. national commentary on the treatment of LGBTQ people on the island.
For more than a decade, Mariela Castro, daughter of former Cuban president Raul Castro, has publicly advocated through a government-funded center to improve gay, lesbian and transgender rights.
But the push for greater equality has been met with stiff opposition from both outside and within the Cuban government.
In 2018, Cuban lawmakers dropped provisions legalizing same-sex marriage amid concerns that a homophobic backlash would reduce voter turnout for a referendum. intention to adopt a new constitution.
The following year, Cuban police disrupted a peaceful LGBTQ rights march and said marchers were not allowed to hold demonstrations.
In particular, Cuba’s burgeoning missionary community has openly supported its opposition to the ratification of the family code.
Evangelical pastor Yoel Serrano told CNN that while Protestants have been more outspoken about opposing same-sex marriage, many groups across Cuban society remain reticent.
“I think about 95 percent of Christians disagree, but not just Christians,” says Serrano. “There are communists who disagree, materialists who disagree. A lot of people believe in different things and disagree with the changes they want to make with the new family law.”
Even at neighborhood “consultations” held by the government across the island, some who identified themselves as staunch revolutionaries said they weren’t sure how they would vote.
“It would be unfortunate if the bill was not approved massively because of one article,” said a woman named Melba – referring to the same-sex clause – at a neighborhood meeting in 2021 that CNN was allowed to include. believe.
In the weeks leading up to the referendum, the Cuban government ran a full court press in support of the new family rule in state media, arguing that the new rule was proof of revolution. Over the past six decades of this island has the ability to adapt to the times.
At the church in Matanzas, Reverend Elaine Saralegui Caraballo, a pastor married to Yennys and Annery, said that if the referendum is passed or rejected, the fight for full equality still needs to continue. customary.
“I have faith that love will win,” she said. “If it’s ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ it’s all the same. We tell our community that no one can take away your worth, who you are.”
