During the Revolution in CUBA, the combination of socialism and traditional morality only exacerbated the marginalization of the LGBT community even more. Therefore, those who did not fit the mold of the societal construct were deemed as either outcasts or as unproductive. It was not until recently that the attitudes and acceptance toward LGBT people changed to be more tolerant
Following the 1958 revolution, queer people were among those imprisoned and sent to forced labor camps alongside political dissidents of Fidel Castro’s new government. Castro later apologized for the way the community was treated under his leadership, but the persecution of queer people has remained a somber aspect of Cuba’s LGBTQ+ history.
It has been a bit of a roller coaster ride as homosexuality was decriminalized in Cuba in 1979, but queer people still face discrimination in the country as they fought for broader rights for the community.
Then in 2018, the National Assembly voted to legalize same-sex marriage, only for it to be removed from the draft Constitution. In April 2022 the Government announced that a new Family Code would be put to a Referendum. It has just been announced that it passed and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is illegal in Cuba.
More than 3.9 million voters voted to ratify the 100 page ‘family’ code (66.9%. It legalizes same-sex marriage and civil unions, allows same-sex couples to adopt children, and promotes equal sharing of domestic rights and responsibilities between men and women. It comes in the same year that Cuba became the first Latin American country to mark LGBT History Month.
P.S. There are still countries in the Americas that have a Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage: Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Paraguay plus Jamaica where it’s still illegal to be gay
