In Cuba, the faltering rights of LGBT people

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This Sunday, May 17, is celebrated the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia. A year ago in Cuba, the pride march was suppressed in Havana. In the same year, however, the approval of the new Constitution had allowed the advancement of LGBT rights.

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Organized independently despite its cancellation by the authorities, the pride march in Havana ended last year with bloody faces and imprisoned protesters. A year later, however, young activist Jancel Moreno sees this event as a step forward for the LGBT community. "  For the first time, 300 people marched to demand the rights of the LGBT community, completely independent of the institutions, which had never happened,  " he said on the microphone of our correspondent, Domitille Piron .

For a dozen years, the parade has been organized by Cenex, the National Center for Sexuality Education. It had been officially canceled due to the national and international situation. An unconvincing explanation, whereas a few months earlier, under pressure from the evangelical community in particular, the Cuban authorities had given up registering same-sex marriage in the new Constitution.

This right to marriage for homosexuals was postponed to a next referendum in 2021. "  Organizing a plebiscite for the rights of the community, which is a historically discriminated sexual minority, is like playing Russian roulette, it doesn't make sense,  ”says Jancel Moreno. For the young activist, in a Cuban society still deeply homophobic, this referendum is lost in advance.

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