Macho-revolutionen som bytte spår

I den katolska kyrkan och macho-kulturens Latinamerika har homosexuella det tufft. Så också på Kuba. Under revolutionens tidiga år betraktades homosexuella och andra sexuella minoriteter med misstänksamhet.

The 1959 Communist Revolution made efforts to stop discrimination, notably against blacks, women and the disabled. But gay men occupy a delicate place on this Caribbean island where Latin-style "machismo" is strong and many Cuban men still expect their wives to stay at home to cook, clean and raise children.

The 1938 Cuban Penal Code, which was based on Spanish law and is similar to legislation elsewhere in Latin America, penalised "habitual homosexual acts" and public displays of homosexuality. In 1979, homosexuality was legalised but public displays of such behaviour remained banned until 1987, when that clause was also dropped.

Nu är Kuba på väg att ta nya steg mot liberal lagstiftning vad gäller sexuella minoriteter.

"We have to abolish any form of discrimination against those persons," Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba's national assembly, said recently. "We have to redefine the concept of marriage. Socialism should be a society that does not exclude anybody."

The national assembly is also currently debating a proposal which will give transsexuals the right to have sex change operations. Like all medical procedures performed on the island, they will be carried out free of charge by the world class Cuban health service.

This official change of heart did not come out of the blue, and neither did the earlier repression. Machista culture has deep roots in all Latin American and Caribbean countries that suffered under slavery and colonialism. In Jamaica, for example, homosexuality is punishable with a prison sentence, and some clubs and bars even display notices reading "Adam and Eve, yes. Adam and Steve, no".

Cuba, being a secular country, avoided the anti-homosexual religious overtones of its neighbours. However, repression of homosexuals continued after the 1959 revolution under the umbrella of a dogmatic interpretation of Marxism. It is a tribute to the humanistic essence of the Cuban Revolution that its leadership was able to face up to its mistakes and change course. Cuba is now set to become the most socially liberal country in the Americas.

Andra bloggar om: Kuba, homosexuella, diskriminering