Petrelis Files

Castro's Niece is Pro-Gay; HRW Expands Gay Unit

The Castro family of Cuba just can't keep themselves out of the news these days, can they? While Fidel's grappled with failing health, the political ramifications of his medical problems, turning over power to his brother Raul, the dictator's niece Mariela was advocating for equal treatment and respect for gays in Cuba.

From the Montreal Gazette, published July 29:

Mariela Castro preaches revolution, though not the kind her uncle Fidel has ever embraced.

As the head of Cuba's National Centre for Sexual Education, Castro is a vocal supporter of rights for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and the transgendered. That support brought her to Montreal yesterday, to speak at the International Conference on LGBT Human Rights, being held in conjunction with the First World Outgames.

Castro, 43, is the daughter of Raul Castro, Cuba's defence minister and the first in line to succeed 80-year-old dictator Fidel Castro, who has ruled the country for 50 years [...]

"When he wants to vilify an opponent, the first thing Fidel Castro will call him is a maricon (faggot)," said Toronto film editor Ricardo Acosta, a gay man who was expelled from Cuba in 1980 as part of a massive deportation that became known as the Mariel boatlift.

"Perhaps her intentions are good, but until people can express themselves freely in Cuba and have freedom to associate, I won't believe things have changed for gays and lesbians [...]"

"There is no official repression of lesbians and gays in Cuba," she said flatly through a translator. "What remains are social and cultural reactions that must be transformed, the same as in many other countries."

Gays, lesbians and transgendered people still face arrest, she conceded, but that reflects problems with bigoted police.

Cuba's constitution bars discrimination on the basis of sex, race or age, but does not specifically prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual identity. Cuba decriminalized sodomy in 1979 [...]

Life for gay Cubans has certainly improved over the decades, with room for further protections. One thing I'd like to learn more about from Mariela Castro and the gay community in Cuba, relates to the current situation for our brothers and sisters, including those living with HIV or AIDS. I want to hear the voices and read the words of Cuban gays. We need more exchanges with gay advocates and our allies from beyond the USA's borders, especially activists in our hemisphere.

On the subject of respect for the human rights of Cuba's gay, here's what the State Department's 2005 international human rights survey had to say:

Societal discrimination against homosexuals persisted, as police occasionally conducted sweeps in areas where homosexuals congregated, particularly along sections of Havana's waterfront.

The government restricted persons found to be HIV-positive to sanatoriums for treatment and therapy before conditionally releasing them into the community. Even after their release, some persons with HIV/AIDS said the government monitored their movements with a de-facto chaperone to prevent the spread of the illness. HIV/AIDS sufferers also asserted that state medical professionals frequently failed to respect confidentiality, with the result that their condition was known widely throughout their neighborhoods. Some persons with HIV/AIDS said the government only offered them jobs incompatible with their medical condition.

Looking at the slightly larger picture of what Human Rights Watch is doing to expand it's work on behalf of gays worldwide, there's some good news from the head of HRW's gay unit, Scott Long. From Long's email:

Two quick notes. We have a new part-time associate shared between the LGBT Rights Program and the Europe-Central Asia Division, Iwona Zielinska, who begins tomorrow. I'll share her full contact details as well as schedule as soon as we've had the chance to work those out with her and let her settle in for a day or two, but we are obviously very grateful to have her with us.

Second, and very excitingly, after gifts from several dedicated funders, we've just received approval to hire another researcher in the LGBT Rights Program. We should be sending out a job announcement in the next week, and I hope you can help us circulate it to achieve a wide and diverse hiring pool as, after numerous recent successes, our important program continues to grow.

HRW's gay liaison, believe it or not, doesn't have a blog, even though he loves to write and authored a terrific blog for a week from Moscow in May, but not on HRW's site. I believe it would help global gay activism and engage more people if Long finally created a blog and routinely communicated with us, about things like their expanded programs and how folks can contact a government official to advocate on behalf of gay human rights. How about starting a blog, Scottie?