More than eight million Cubans are called on Sunday, September 25 to answer yes or no to a single question posed by referendum: "Do you agree with the Family Code?".
Polling stations will be open from 07:00 to 18:00 local time (11:00 to 22:00 GMT).
The new law, which thoroughly dusts off the text in force since 1975, defines marriage as the union of "two people", which legalizes same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples.
In addition to strengthening the rights of children, the elderly and the disabled, the code introduces the possibility of legally recognizing several fathers and mothers, in addition to the biological parents, as well as non-profit surrogacy.
Several of these subjects remain sensitive in Cuba, in a society still steeped in machismo and whose communist government ostracized homosexuals in the 1960s and 1970s.
Nevertheless, over the past twenty years, the attitude of the authorities towards homosexuals has changed markedly, and the "yes" vote has been the subject of an intense official campaign.
"The Family Code sets out above all respect for human beings, respect for each and everyone. We recognize and accept the differences that already exist in our society," insisted President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
"I don't care if two men marry or two women marry, I don't have those prejudices. I'm from another era, but I don't have those prejudices," Reinaldo Orgalles told AFP. , a 67-year-old retiree.
In Latin America, same-sex marriage is legal in only seven countries and several Mexican states.
Surrogacy is only allowed in two Mexican states.
Elsewhere, it most often finds itself in a legal vacuum, neither prohibited nor authorised.
Church Opposition
In 2019, the Cuban government tried to introduce same-sex marriage in the new Constitution, before backtracking in the face of criticism from the Catholic and Evangelical Churches.
The Conference of Bishops recently recalled its opposition to several articles: adoption by homosexual couples, surrogacy and extended parenthood.
"It is unethical to recognize 'solidarity gestation' as appropriate, when a woman who carries a child in her womb for nine months must hand it over to others immediately after birth," the bishops denounced in particular. .
"I am a Christian, I have other conceptions (than the Code), I do not accept that", abounds Zulika Corso, a 65-year-old teacher.
For several months, the text was the subject of a vast popular consultation, with 79,000 neighborhood meetings, which led to the modification of 48% of the text, according to the official media.
However, the broad nature of the text with more than 500 articles could fuel the negative vote or abstention, some voters saying, for example, in favor of equal marriage, but opposed to adoption.
"The most important human rights legislation"
"I haven't made a decision yet because there are things I consider good and a lot of things I don't consider good," says Airam Zulueta, a restaurateur.
For political scientist Rafael Hernandez, it is the "most important human rights legislation" in Cuba since the 1959 revolution, to the point that some even felt that the government "was going too far".
This is the first time that Cubans have been called upon to vote yes or no on a law, the referendum having hitherto been reserved for constitutional texts.
In a context of deep economic crisis and massive emigration, and more than a year after the historic demonstrations of July 2021 demanding more freedom, some voters could also be tempted to abstain or vote in protest.
"There are many other subjects that are more important than the Family Code, such as the fact that there is no food, that many people are hungry," said Julio Cesar Vazquez, a concierge at 50 years.
Dissidents have also called on social networks to abstain.
The law will come into force the day after the results if it obtains more than 50% of the vote
With AFP
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