On Sun, 23 Oct 2005, John Obrien wrote:
"Building a Civilization of Solidarity", "face of A Good Angel", "Castro
paid tribute to John Paul II and said he was favorably impressed by the
new pope".
This sounds very similar to those apologists at the time of the
Hitler-Stalin Pact, in justifying that mistake.
To those who consider Gay, Lesbian and Women rights important - and not
to be "put aside" - this email continues to say a great deal about "what
is and is not important"!
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution (March 19, 1995) reported:
Because he was gay, Reynaldo Garcia once was ostracized as a member of La
Escoria, the official Cuban government term for homosexuals, convicts and
the mentally ill. It means the scum.
Now Garcia can do something he never dreamed would be possible walk hand
in hand down the streets of Havana with his lover of six years without
fear of reprisal.
I never thought I would see this day. Its a beautiful feeling, Garcia
said. I feel like people are starting to see us as human beings, like
anyone else. Cuba is backing away from years of discrimination against
homosexuals. Once packed off to work on rural farms alongside dissidents
and religious Cubans, or nudged into exile, gays have entered a period of
tolerance.
=
Bill Berkowitz
WORKINGFORCHANGE July 13, 2001
Viva gay Cuba! Out and married in the increasingly tolerant Communist
island
While gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered folks around the world
recently finished myriad celebrations of gay pride, an eye-opening report
comes from Juan Perez Cabral - dateline Cuba. Cabral writes that while
their relatives quietly witnessed, and the neighbors gawked, exercising
their curiosity, two gay male couples made history by publicly holding a
gay wedding. Four local boys, Michel and Angel, and Juanito and Alejandro,
ranging in ages from 17 to 22, exchanged symbolic vows before their
families and friends at a neighborhood recreation center in one of the
poorest sections of San Miguel del Padron, a working-class suburb
southeast of Havana.
Full: http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=11550
=
David McReynolds:
Homosexual life. As a homosexual, let me not dodge this. I am told there
are gay bars in Havana. I didnt ask to go at 71, bars are not that
exciting, no matter where they are. (Doubly so for alcoholics who no
longer drink!). Yes, a young teen age boy tried to pick me up. At least I
think he did his English was not working and my Spanish is very poor. I
assume there is prostitution. You cant sell tourists on the idea that
Havana has a hot night life and lots of beautiful women (and men) without
seeing a revival of the sex trade. But are homosexuals repressed? I dont
think so. I was visiting one evening with a gay man who works with the
government who asked if I had seen Gay Cuba. I hadnt, he had a copy and
put it in his VCR. It was a good video it documented the genuine
repression which had existed not so long ago, and then the sharp change in
government policy.
Full: http://www.cc-ds.org/Cuba/mcreynolds.htm
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