Fidel Castro on persecution against gays in Cuba: "If someone is responsible, it's me"

A stunner of an interview with Fidel Castro was posted today on the site of the Mexican newspaper La Jornada. In it, journalist Carmen Lira Saade interviews to the former dictator at his home in Havana and discusses the US blockade, Cuba's relationship with Mexico and LGBT rights. Here is my translation of the passage in which the Cuban dictator addresses LGBT rights when he was leading the country.

[NOTE: The reporter writes in the first person and uses dashes for some citations and quotation marks for others, making the interview difficult to follow at parts. Nevertheless I have tried to retain the punctuation used in the original Spanish-language article from La Jornada].

Even though there is nothing that shows he feels any discomfort, I do not think Fidel is going to like what I am about to say.

- Comandante, despite the enchantments of the Cuban Revolution, the acknowledgment of and solidarity with a great part of the intellectual universe, the great achievements of the people against the blockade, in short, everything - everything - went down the pipes as a result of the persecution against homosexuals in Cuba.

Fidel doesn't shy away from the topic. He doesn't deny nor reject the claim. He only asks for time to remember - he says - how and when prejudice took over the revolutionary ranks.

Five decades ago, based on homophobia, homosexuals were marginalized in Cuba and many were sent to agricultural-military labor camps accusing them of being "counterrevolutionaries."

- Yes, he remembers, it was a time of great injustice - A great injustice! - he repeats emphatically - no matter who did it. If it was us who did it, us... I am trying to define my responsibility in all that because, of course, I don't hold that type of prejudice.

It is known that among his oldest of friends, there are homosexuals.

- But then, how was that hatred against the 'different' established?

He believes all was the result of a spontaneous reaction in the revolutionary ranks, which came from tradition. In earlier Cuba blacks were not the only ones discriminated against; women were also discriminated and, of course, homosexuals...

- Yes, yes. But not in the Cuba of the 'new' morality, the pride of those revolutionaries on the inside and on the outside...

- Who, then, was directly or indirectly responsible for not putting a stop to what was happening in Cuban society? The Party? Because the Communist Party of Cuba still does not 'explicitly' ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.

- No - says Fidel - If someone is responsible, it's me...

"It is true that at the time I could not take care of that issue... I found myself immersed, primarily, in the October Crisis [as the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 is known in the island], in war, on political matters..."

- But this became a serious and grave political problem, Comandante.

- Understood, understood ... We didn't know how to give it value ... systematic sabotages, armed attacks were happening all the time; we had so many problems, some terrible, problems of life or death - you know? - at we did not give it enough attention.

- After all that, it became very difficult to defend the Revolution abroad... The image had forever been damaged in some places, particularly in Europe.

- Understood, understood - he repeats -; it was just...

- The persecution of homosexuals could happen with be lesser or greater protest, anywhere. Not in revolutionary Cuba - I tell him.

- Understood; It's like when a saint sins, right?... It's not the same thing as when a sinner sins, no?

Fidel gives a faint smile, then get serious again:

- Look: Imagine how our days were in those first few months of the Revolution; the war with the Yankees, the how you think were the days of ours in those early months of the Revolution: the war with the Yankees, the issue of the armaments, and, almost simultaneously, the planned attempts on my own life...

Fidel reveals how they all had "tremendous" influence on him and how his life was changed by the life-threats and actual attacks he suffered:

"I could not go anywhere, I didn't even have were to live..." Betrayals were the order of the day and I had to go a salto de mata [an expression that means 'to live day to day']...

"To escape the CIA, which used to buy so many traitors, sometimes among my own people, was not an easy thing; but whatever, anyway, if responsibility has to be taken, I take my own. I will not blame others...", says the revolutionary leader.

He only regrets not having corrected it back then...

The article goes on to mention the work of Mariela Castro. Fidel's niece, in pushing for LGBT rights in the island and recent advances which include public health policies that allow transgender people to undergo gender-reassignment surgery free of charge.

UPDATE: A few English language articles have started to roll in...

• Fidel Castro takes blame for 1960s gay persecution (Reuters)
• Castro admits 'injustice' for gays and lesbians during revolution (CNN)
• Fidel Castro takes blame for persecution of Cuban gays (BBC)

Syndicated Latino columnist takes on Sean Penn's defense of Raúl Castro, Hugo Chávez

Earlier this month I posted an item on an essay written by actor Sean Penn for The Nation on meeting Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez and Cuban leader Raúl Castro which came under criticism by James Kirchick in the pages of the gay publication The Advocate. Kirchick argued that Penn was tainting the acclaim he has received for his turn as gay-rights pioneer Harvey Milk in the Gus Van Sandt movie "Milk" by kowtowing to despots whose governments still violate the rights of LGBT individuals.

Now comes an OpEd column by Sergio Muñoz Bata in which he takes Kirchick's essay and does a more incisive job in taking Penn to task for defending Castro and Chavez. Muños Bata is a former editorial member of the Los Angeles Times and a former Executive Director of La Opinión and his weekly column runs weekly in a dozen leading Latin American newspapers including Colombia's El Tiempo and Mexico's Reforma.

I have seen it pop up all around Latin America but haven't seen an English-language version so let me translate the last few paragraphs from the version that was printed in El Salvador's La Prensa Gráfica ("When Art Imitates Life", Dec. 18, 2008).

In the first half of the essay Muñoz Bata gives some background on the "No on Prop. 8" battle in California, the life of Harvey Milk, and the parallels between Milk's gay rights battles and today's battles. He then launches into his own critique of Penn:

The convincing performance by Penn in the movie, as his incessant political activism in real life, in support of certain causes of the Left, have created a certain cult of personality. Within the gay community, however, there have also been complaints that have questioned his devotion to human rights.

In an essay published in The Advocate, a bi-weekly magazine aimed at the national gay community, James Kirchick reproaches Penn for - on the same day that the movie premiered - publishing an article exalting dictators such as Fidel and Raúl Castro and their mechanical extension, Hugo Chávez, guilty of egregious violations of the human rights of Cubans and Venezuelans.

What doesn't escape Kirchick is the irony of the historic duplication which Penn inadvertently revives in playing the role of the "useful idiot" of whom Lenin spoke to describe those who - thankful for an invitation to the Soviet Union - hid the "Gulags" and horrors committed against dissidents and trumped up the glories of the "new workers' paradise".

In his love letter to Chávez and Raúl Castro, Penn describes the small details of his travels with Chávez in the presidential airplane. He also writes about his stay at homes set aside for foreign dignitaries in Habana, and the entertainment, between toasts and meals, provided by the younger of the Castros as he allowed him an 'exclusive interview' which stretched to seven hours make Penn's "journalistic" work easier.

In reaction to Kirchick's essay, Cleve Jones, the gay activist who fought next to Milk and now does it next to Penn, has published a failed rebuttal to Kirchick's arguments. Jones seems to ignore that despite the evident advances that have occurred since the days in which Fidel Castro defined homosexuality as a "deviation from nature", Cuba remains a country in which gay people are denied the right to congregate because they are considered a risk to the national security.

Worse yet, in his plea, Jones avoids confronting the central issue, that which concerns us all, those of us who are not gay and those who are, the undisputed and nonnegotiable universality of the respect for the human rights of individuals.

I think that Kirchick is right when he suggests that it is hypocritical to have a selective vision of how, where and when human rights are respected.

An aside: Miami's El Nuevo Herald, a sister publication to the Miami Herald, also published the column ("When arts imitates life", Dec. 17, 2008) but it's an edited version that does not include four of the last five paragraphs I translated above.

Previously:

• Sean Penn taken to task for supporting Venezuelan and Cuban leaders (Dec. 13, 2008)

Sean Penn taken to task for supporting Venezuelan and Cuban leaders

In a Nov. 25th essay published first in The Nation and later on The Huffington Post ("Conversations with Chávez and Castro"), actor Sean Penn takes what turns out to be a rather benign look at Cuban leader Raúl Castro and Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez - both of whom he visited.

I have little patience for Hollywood actors going on 'fact finding trips' to countries like Venezuela and Cuba when it's obvious that the access they get to the upper echelons of power is due to their political leanings and their fame. It's certainly great PR for despots who want to come off as cuddly and nice and it certainly highlights the unfortunate tendency by some in the left wing of the United States to romanticize the Cuban revolution and the emergence of left wing "revolutionaries" such as Chávez in Venezuela.

Jump ahead a few weeks and you have a Dec. 9 piece by James Kirchick in The Advocate using the essay in The Nation to criticize Penn on the issue of gay rights ("A friend to gays and anti-gay dictators alike"). Penn, of course, is currently playing gay icon Harvey Milk in the Gus Van Sant flick "Milk" and the editors at The Advocate must have jumped on the chance to run an OpEd piece countering the hosannas the actor has been receiving for his portrayal of the gay rights leader (contrarian OpeEd pieces draw readership).

Considering my comments above, you might think that I agree with Kirchick's argument that Penn's benign take on Castro and Chávez compromises the actor's pro-gay stand (or his portrayal of Harvey Milk). I don't.

There are valid arguments to be made that gay-rights have been curtailed under both Castro and Chávez (ongoing reports that LGBT rights organizations in Cuba have been censured as well as Chávez personal uneasiness with the question of homosexuality matching recent criticism from gay rights organizations and a recent decision by a top court to ban same-sex marriages) but Kirchick seems to have his own ideological blinders in assuming that there have been few gay rights advances since Reynaldo Arenas wrote "Before Night Falls" (1992).

The fact is that there have been momentous advances in Cuba when it comes to LGBT rights - particularly over the last five years although government intervention and censorship remain and dissident views are still penalized. And, while Chávez might be homophobic and the Venezuelan top court has banned same-sex marriage, there are annual gay rights marches in Caracas and other cities and several LGBT rights organizations and activists who are pretty visible and who speak to press freely even when criticizing their president.

So while I personally find that Penn lets his ideology get in the way of his appraisal of the Cuban and Venezuelan leaders, the same can be said of Kirchick when it comes to the hit piece on Penn.

As for "Milk" - Saw it a couple of nights back. Not sure if my expectations were too high but I didn't think it was all that. Except for Josh Brolin's brilliant portrayal of Dan White, it came off as a little too didactic and rushed for me (despite it's length), which seems weird since most people who had told me they'd seen it had loved it.

Update: Cleve Jones wrote a letter to the editor in response to the Kirchick OpEd defending Penn. An excerpt:

Sean Penn is a citizen of the world. He harbors a tireless curiosity and a healthy skepticism, so he goes out and ascertains things for himself firsthand. His explorations as a journalist have put a spotlight on some of the biggest issues of our time: in Iraq, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, and -- closer to home -- New Orleans. His visits and dispatches have opened avenues of communication and encouraged dialogue.

It still doesn't address that Penn is given unparalleled access denied to hundreds of objective journalists and is treated as what he is - a Hollywood star - in part due to the fact that his past essays have shown him to have a benign view of the Cuban and Venezuelan governments.

Totally unrelated but related - Rex Wockner didn't think it was all that either:

• We needed some Harvey Milks this year (Dec. 14, 2008)

Cuba: Mariela Castro says government did not shut down first gay pride march

[Previously: "1st ever gay pride march canceled, organizers claim intimidation, others differ," June 28, 2008]

This has been bubbling out there on the internet all day long.

Earlier I got a Google alert that read, in Spanish, "Mariela Castro qualifies a gay march summoned by independent groups as a 'sad montage'" (Encuentro Cubano, July 8, 2008).

The article, posted in what is a strongly anti-Castro web portal, quoted excerpts from what seemed to be a private letter by Castro, signing as the Director of the Cuban Sexual Education National Center, to Dr. Pierre Assalian, the President of the 17th World Congress of Sexology organized by the World Association for Sexual Health (WAS) - indicating that she was responding to some of his comments.

Seeking more information, I actually found a bilingual blog post with information on an internal e-mail message sent by Dr. Assailan to members of the WAS ("Cuba and sexual diversity: Some comments and clarifications," La Polilla, July 8, 2008). La Polilla, which leans towards pro-Castro views, translates his brief message as follows:

Re: CUBA’s first gay pride march-the organizers were arrested this morning
I do not understand, I thought Cuba was so open??????
Here WAS should take a stand, even NAFSO [North American Federation of Sexuality Organizations], if we want to put in practice what we talked about in our last meeting regarding ADVOCACY as a role of NAFSO.

La Polilla also offers what seems to be the full text of Castro's letter as well as an English translation (another translation is available at the Penultimos Dias blog).

I still have no confirmation that the statement is real but, if so, Dr. Castro rejects any claims that the Cuban government had anything to do with shutting down what was billed as the first gay pride march in Cuba, takes pot-shots at Cuban-American organizations in Miami and accuses them of terrorism, alleges that none of the persons that showed up for the march were even gay and accuses them of being a front for United States-backed forces seeking to discredit efforts by the Cuban government to increase government led recognition of the rights of LGBT Cubans.

Below, my own translation!

Pierre Assalian, M.D.
President Professional Development of AMPQ
President - 17th World Congress of Sexology

Dear Pierre,

I regret your disagreeable and clumsy irony. It would be very healthy if you sought in-depth information before providing an opinion since none of us are that ingenuous and we know that news regarding Cuba is rewarded with very tempting sums of money to discredit any accomplishment by the Cuban society. We all know that campaigns against Cuba are financed and organized by the United States government, using terrorist groups and organizations made-up at the last minute to be able to justify that funding and divert the attention towards the majority of the funds that remain in the pockets of the organizers. Have you read about these scandals? A common mechanism for this is to create the news and to sell it to different press agencies and bodies, with the goal of indicating that the assigned moneys were ‘adequately’ used.

Just in case you do not know, the Cuban revolution, and in particular the work done by CENESEX during the last years, have elicited much world-wide sympathy. Some of the foreign press accredited by Cuba have communicated to me that they received the order by their newspaper’s directors not to publish more news regarding the social advances in Cuba in the field of the right of the LGBT community, due to pressures expressly received from North American diplomats. This is perhaps why you are not aware of all the work we are doing to promote the sexual rights of the LGBT community, of the intense and extensive program undertaken in all of Cuba close to May 17th, of our efforts in the legislative field. Nevertheless, you become alarmed by news that have been made-up and politically manipulated, to justify the funds received by these organizations, coming from the North American government program, to discredit Cuba, with the ostentatious intention of discrediting the work we are doing.

I have received letters from gay, lesbian and transgender activists living in Cuba and abroad who are angered by this information. In the first place, because those organizations in Miami are profoundly homophobic and never took care of the rights of neither Cuban nor Cuban-American homosexuals. In the second place, because they will never allow any organization based in the exterior to decide on their behalf. In the third place, because it was all a sad montage [un montaje infeliz]: There was no march because no-one supports them, no-one confronted them, no-one repressed them, there was not a single policeman in their surroundings and there were no detainees. The foreign press let us know that there were only 6 persons in the referred park and none were LGBT, they weren’t even able to explain the LGBT situation in Cuba when the press asked them, for this reason they weren’t sufficiently covered by the summoned foreign press media, who suffered a great deception when they discovered that it was a coarse and badly mounted show. In the end, they were ignored.

We regret that the attacks against our work from the exterior begin to be increasingly desperate. It’s our understanding that they will be more systematic and that there are a lot of media and the economic power to carry them out We will continue to do and improve our work, with the full support of the LGBT community of Cuba and many friends around the world.

I assume that the WAS is not a political organization and that it has the professional responsibility of not playing into the media campaigns, which discredit it as a worldwide scientific organization. I remind you that it’s not the first time that some fall into this trap.

It will be my pleasure to meet you again in Ecuador and Sweden, to greet you as good colleagues who fight for the same cause and to talk about the advances of the LBGT community in Canada, where you live. We all have a lot of useful work to do in our countries on behalf of the promotion of sexual rights. I am certain that we all are doing our best efforts.

My best greetings,

Mariela Castro Espín, Director of the Sexual Education National Center (CENESEX)

Related:

• Child of the Revolution: Family Habits (July 9, 2008)

Cuba: 1st-ever gay pride march canceled, organizers claim intimidation, others differ

Photo: Mario José Delgado González, Vice President of the Reynaldo Arenas in Memoriam LGBT Foundation, speaks to media at Habana's Quijote Park on the day the pride march was cancelled (CSM/Cuba Encuentro)

Of all the recent developments in LGBT rights throughout Latin America, few have been as fascinating as the Cuban government's increasing openness towards the island's LGBT population (particularly in light Fidel Castro's repressive record on LGBT issues during his mandate).

When Fidel finally relinquished his dictator's throne earlier this year to make way for his brother Raúl some commentators said that they expected little to change in the island. But things had already begun to change in Fidel's waning years as a ruler and economic and political pressures on the Cuban government seemed to indicate that it had to change or else.

And so, since Raúl took over, the island has indeed seen a series of changes such as allowing regular citizens to buy DVD-players, PC's, cell phones, scooters and other products; allowing Cuban citizens to book rooms at luxury hotels previously only available to wealthy tourists (which doesn't mean necessarily that the average Cuban has the money to do so anyway); and, most recently, institute a new wage system which would reward workers for good performance.

When it comes to LGBT rights, it helps that Mariela Castro is Raúl's daughter. It also helps that she is a sexologist and heads Cuba's National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX). And, as with other changes in the island, she had already begun to lay the groundwork to open up official recognition of the rights of LGBT Cubans even before Fidel stepped down.

These efforts are beginning to bear fruit this year. First came an official ceremony on May 17th commemorating the International Day Against Homophobia ("Cuban Government Backs Calls to Combat Homophobia," AP, May 17, 2008) - as public a government-sponsored LGBT-rights event in Cuban history. Then came news earlier this month that a long-gestating government resolution to have the Public Health Ministry cover the costs of sexual reassignment surgeries for transgender Cubans had been approved ("Free sex-change operations approved," IPS, June 6, 2008).

As IPS reports, the next step will probably be recognizing same-sex partnership rights:

"The [proposed] reformed Family Code would stipulate that the family has the responsibility and duty to accept and care for all of its members, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation. It would also recognize the same civil, patrimonial, inheritance and housing rights for homosexual and heterosexual couples, while opening the door for legal recognition of same-sex civil unions."

Imagine that! Cuba granting same-sex couples all rights afforded to heterosexual couples even before the United States does it [Oh! And on the eve of the May 17th event, Cuban television broadcast "Brokeback Mountain" on national television].

And yet...

In October I wrote about the birth of a small gay rights organization in the island called the Cuban Movement for Homosexual Liberation ("Independent reporter says a gay rights organization has been launched," October 24, 2007). Leanes Imbert Acosta, one of the founders, told reporters that they planned to "denounce the cases of repression and human rights violations to which [gays] are subjected by the government of this island" [Back in February Luiz Mott, one of Brazil's leading LGBT rights activists, echoed those thoughts by demanding that Fidel Castro "ask for forgiveness for the persecution of gays in Cuba"]. The government, while lamenting some polices from the past, has never indicated that it would do such a thing.

It wasn't the first time that LGBT Cubans criticized their own government from the inside, of course. But considering all the recent changes, would any dissent from the official norm be tolerated?

1st ever Cuban LGBT pride march suddenly announced:

On Tuesday I received a press release from Miami's Unity Coalition announcing that the Cuban Movement for Homosexual Liberation was among a number of Cuban organizations planning the first ever gay pride march (other organizations included the Cuban Commission on Human Rights for people with HIV and Sexual Races, the Cuban League against AIDS, the Elena Mederos Foundation, the Reinaldo Arenas in Memoriam LGTB Foundation, the Havana Transsexual Collective and the Havana LGTB Cultural Center.

The march was scheduled for 10 am the next day under the theme "You are not alone." Marchers would gather at the Don Quixote Park and make their way to the Ministry of Justice were the plan was to hand a list of demands including "the cessation of violence and repression against Cuban homosexuals," an acknowledgment that gays and lesbians have been and are currently discriminated in the work place and from national political think tanks, a review of the cases of those gays and lesbians currently imprisoned under a "Dangerous Index" law enforcement policy, an better treatment for individuals with HIV/AIDS including those in prison.

Specifically, organizers said that they would ask Raúl Castro to "apologize to the Cuban people for the introduction in the 60's of UMAP concentration camps that were created by the dictator Fidel Castro, to suppress and punish homosexuals and the religious youth who opposed his Marxist ideology." (UMAP stands for Military Units to Aid Production).

They also said that they wanted to raise awareness about Jordanys Tamayo Aldama, a man they allege is serving a seven year prison sentence for "contempt towards the figure of Fidel Castro" for having publicly stated that Fidel was a homophobic.

Finally they also said that they would raise attention about the political nature of Mariela Castro's activities at CENESEX.

Unity Coalition said that they would support their efforts by opening an "information center" at Club Azucar, a Miami gay bar, and by holding an afternoon community rally in solidarity.

Sudden cancellation:

Just before noon on Wednesday, the day of the march, an e-mail message from Unity Coalition stated that "as organizers arrived at the scheduled starting point, several of them were met by Cuban police, who beat & arrested several of them."

Ray Sanchez from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Havana bureau reported on the arrests ("Cuba's Gay Pride Parade Canceled", June 25, 2008), although he says that a local activist alleged they had happened the day before the march.

"Activist Mario José Delgado [pictured above] announced the cancellation of the march moments before it was to start Wednesday at a park in Havana. He said two organizers who were to deliver a set of demands to the Justice Ministry were detained one day earlier. Delgado said he has no details of the arrests."

"'The president of the Cuban League Against AIDS and the president of the Foundation LGTB Reinaldo Arenas in Memoriam have been arrested,' Delgado said. 'They were to be here with our written demands but now we cannot carry out our activity.'"

The Sun-Sentinel also reported that a passer-by who identified himself as being gay dismissed the activists.

40-year-old Felix Lopez, told the paper that it was unnecessary: "Important strides have been made. We don't need to be instructed by people in Miami or any other part of the world. We're slowly gaining a space in our society and that's important."

The paper also said that they had tried to reach Mariela Castro at CENESEX for comment but that her secretary stated that no statements would be released.

On Thursday, Cuba Encuentro published their take ("Police stops independent march for the Day of Gay Pride," June 26, 2008, Spanish language). They said that Ignacio Cepero Estrada, coordinator of the Cuban Commission on Human Rights for people with HIV had been detained by police for two hours and let go and that an unnamed official from CENESEX told a reporter from the ANSA news agency "We have no knowledge of any manifestation that might happen. No one has informed us about this and, as such, we cannot say anything."

They also quote "independent reporter" Carlos Serpa Maceira as having seen a number of law enforcement agents surrounding the area and quote Cuban dissidents on human rights violations by the Cuban government.

As with everything related to Cuba, there are other versions:

I didn't find the direct quote at ANSA, but did find a brief article ("Homosexual protest, one detained," June 25, 2008) which does report that one of the organizers was detained. Interestingly they contradict other statements and say that there was no discernible presence of law enforcement officers in the area. As for the protest? They note that an organizer was detained but also say that the protest was cancelled because of lack of participation as only twenty people showed up.

Call me a right-wing anti-communist imperialist pig (although some of those might call me a rabid commie for mentioning some LGBT rights advances in Cuba), but I am a little more inclined to trust The Guardian and the Sun-Sentinel versions.

I also have long believed that social change doesn't happen without visibility and leadership which is what personally bothers me about the fact that the only face presented on LGBT rights in Cuba is Mariela Castro and the only version on advancement of LGBT rights seems to be hers. Why not allow LGBT leaders to speak on their own?

Reaction:

Blogland has had some reaction.

Over at Babalu Blog, a 2006 Weblog Awards winner for "Best Latino, Caribbean or South American Blog" which features posts from different US based Cuban bloggers and describes itself as "an island on the net without a bearded dictator," George Moneo wasn't surprised that the march might have been shut down by the Cuban government.

Interestingly when Val Prieto posted the image on the right on the same blog yesterday without any commentary, another Babalu blogger who uses the nickname pototo was so incensed by other Babalu bloggers expressing support for gays in Cuba that he decided to leave Babalu (that according to this post today from Manuel A. Tellechea at "Review of Cuban-American Blogs").

Gay Canadian blogger Jonathan Higbee reacts to the Guardian's piece and says "[Wednesday's] despicable start to Cuba's first gay pride shows that the country is not quite ready to move forward."

In a reply Calvin from the UK begs to differ and says that "A media fraud is being perpetrated here in the interests of the United States" and calls the march "a stunt designed in Miami by far right Cuban-American sects, and funded by the US Government."

He also says that "The 'gay rights' organisations in Cuba said to be behind the parade, do not exist in any meaningful sense. Rather, they are tiny political front organisations populated by the same group of two to three hundred professional 'dissidents' who run dozens of non existent 'institutes', 'independent libraries', 'trade unions', 'human rights centres' and the like" and alleges that most are on the United States payroll.

I guess you can read anything into something depending on ideology. I don't discount his assertion that these organizations might be small in numbers but that in itself does not mean that they shouldn't have the right to protest or to demand their rights - or that they are flush with US dollars.

Cuba's rebellious youth find gay men's g-spot

Back in June we told you about a television soap opera in Cuba called "The Hidden Side of the Moon" which is said to have been the first time that Cuban television addressed the issue of homosexuality in such a candid and moving way (the serialized drama, which was originally produced as one of several stories that would address HIV prevention, told the story of a married man who loved his wife but found himself falling in love with another man and torn about what to do).

Sometimes it's hard to gauge the extent of progress of LGBT rights in Cuba from the outside, particularly because any discussion that involve Cuban matters in the United States easily become polarized. On the left I've heard some praise Cuba's HIV treatment services, highlight a new openness on LGBT issues after years of persecution (which are sometimes too easily dismissed by the left) and claim that Cuba would be perfect if only for the US embargo. On the right I've heard of gays still being arrested, raids at gay bars, ongoing limits to personal freedoms including expression of one's sexual identity, etc.

Signs of change for the better:

On July 3rd Reuters ran this article on Mariela Castro (pictured), the Director of Cuba's National Center for Sex Education, who talks about doing work behind the scenes to make sure that "The Other Side of the Moon" aired on Cuban television. Castro, Fidel's niece, also talks about a new bill that might become law in December that "would give transsexuals free sex change operations and hormonal therapy in addition to granting them new identification documents with their changed gender."

And now this:

Today, Juventud Rebelde, a Havana-based web-portal that disseminates the Communist word to Cuba's youth and their allies, reports that anal sex is "habitual behavior [between gay men] but not exclusive to them, just like kissing, hugging, or touching the rest of their bodies."

The article says that men have an anal g-spot (or "p-spot, as it's known to be related to the prostate," they say) and sings the merit of massaging those particular erogenous zones, advising women to give it a try with their boyfriends.

Try Babelfish if you want to translate the piece for additional valuable information.
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BLABBEANDO, NOW WITH INSTA-UPDATE (Ugh! more translation work):

Not seconds after I published the above we find this:

Writing about the opening day of the International Conference on LGBT Human Rights which began yesterday in Montreal (parallel to the 1st Ever World OUTGames), Alejandro Brito reports for Mexico's La Jornada newspaper that the Cuban Communist Party has allegedly officially recognized that it made an error in persecuting the LGBT community back in the 1960's and denounced decisions that kept gays from reaching important leadership positions in Cuba's Communist Party as well as in the Cuban government.

Those statements were made in Montreal by the leader of the Cuban delegation to the conference, Mariela Castro (mentioned earlier), at one of the meetings, though she also said that it was never meant to be a public statement, "just an internal matter."

Brito reports that Castro said that "there is no repression against gays in Cuba, what exists is a socio-cultural reaction similar to that of other countries."

NOTE: Activist (and blogger) Michael Petrelis also writes about Mariela Castro and recent developments in Cuba regarding LGBT rights here.