[Marxism] Fidel Castro on homosexuality (2006)

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Lacking the details on when this book will be published in English,
CubaNews is presenting this excerpt from the new book of interviews
with Fidel Castro on this topic which is always of such interest to
so many people. Fidel has given two previous on-the-record interviews
on this subject, in 1992 and 1965. You can find them at the page
linked below, which contains a very comprehensive listing of items,
links and recommended readings on Cuba and homosexuality. Much more
is now being published regularly in the Cuban media and I'm trying
to keep up with it and bring out translations of these items just
as quickly as we can get them made. As soon as the book is out in
English, we'll certainly let you know.


Walter Lippmann, CubaNews
http://www.walterlippmann.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews
==================================================================

CIEN HORAS CON FIDEL [One Hundred Hours With Fidel] by Ignacio
Ramonet, published by the Cuban Council of State, April 2006

The book is 718 pages long. These excerpts appear on pages 222-225.

The book is dedicated to Alfredo Guevara, and to two of Fidel's
children, Tancrede and Axel.

A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.
===================================================================

One of the things the Revolution was criticized about in its first
years is that it was said to display an aggressive, repressive
attitude towards homosexuals, that there were camps where the
homosexuals were locked away and repressed. What can you say about
that?

In two words, you're talking about a supposed persecution of
homosexuals.

I have to tell you about the origins of that and where that criticism
came from. I do assure you that homosexuals were neither persecuted
nor sent to internment camps.


But there are so many testimonies of that...

Let me tell you about the problems we had. In those first years we
were forced to mobilize almost the whole nation because of the risks
we were facing, which included that of an attack by the United
States: the dirty war, the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Missile Crisis.
Many people were sent to prison then. And we established the
Mandatory Military Service.

We had three problems at that time: we needed people of a certain
school level to serve in the Armed Forces, people capable of handling
sophisticated technology, because you could not do it if you had only
reached second, third or sixth grade; you needed at least seventh,
eighth or ninth grade, and a higher level later on. We had some
graduates, but also had to take some men out of the universities
before graduation. You can't deal with a surface-to-air rocket
battery if you don't have a University degree.

A degree on Sciences, I assume.

You know that very well. There were hundreds of thousands of men who
had an impact on many branches, not only on the preparation programs,
but economic branches as well. Yet some were unskilled, and the
country needed them as a result of the brain-drain we enforced in
production centers. That's a problem we had then.

Second, there were some religious groups which, out of principles or
doctrines, refused to honor the flag or accept using weapons of any
kind, something some people eventually used as an excuse to criticize
or be hostile.

Third, there was the issue of the homosexuals. At the time, the mere
idea of having women in Military Service was unthinkable. Well, I
found out there was a strong rejection of homosexuals, and at the
triumph of the Revolution, the stage we are speaking of, the machista
element was very much present, together with widespread opposition to
having homosexuals in military units.

Because of those three factors, homosexuals were not drafted at
first, but then all that became a sort of irritation factor, an
argument some people used to lash out at homosexuals even more.

Taking those three categories into account we founded the so-called
Military Units to Support Production (UMAP) where we sent people from
the said three categories: those whose educational level was
insufficient; those who refused to serve out of religious
convictions; or homosexual males who were physically fit. Those were
the facts; that's what happened.


So they were not internment camps?

Those units were set up all throughout the country for purposes of
work, mainly to assist agriculture. That is, the homosexuals were not
the only ones affected, though many of them certainly were, not all
of them, just those who were called to do mandatory service in the
ranks, since it was an obligation and everyone was participating.

That's why we had that situation, and it's true they were not
internment units, nor were they punishment units; on the contrary, it
was about morale, to give them a chance to work and help the country
in those difficult circumstances. Besides, there were many who for
religious reasons had the chance to help their homeland in another
way by serving not in combat units but in work units.

Of course, as time passed by those units were eliminated. I can't
tell you now how many years they lasted, maybe six or seven years,
but I can tell you for sure that there was prejudice against
homosexuals.


Do you think that prejudice stemmed from machismo?

It was a cultural thing, just as it happened with women. I can tell
you that the Revolution never promoted that, quite the opposite; we
had to work very hard to do away with racial prejudice here.
Concerning women, there was strong prejudice, as strong as in the
case of homosexuals. I'm not going to come up with excuses now, for I
assume my share of the responsibility. I truly had other concepts
regarding that issue. I had my own opinions, and I was rather opposed
and would always be opposed to any kind of abuse or discrimination,
because there was a great deal of prejudice in that society. Whole
families suffered for it. The homosexuals were certainly
discriminated against, more so in other countries, but it happened
here too, and fortunately our people, who are far more cultured and
learned now, have gradually left that prejudice behind.

I must also tell you that there were -and there are- extremely
outstanding personalities in the fields of culture and literature,
famous names this country takes pride in, who were and still are
homosexual, however they have always enjoyed a great deal of
consideration and respect in Cuba. So there's no need to look at it
as if it were a general feeling. There was less prejudice against
homosexuals in the most cultured and educated sectors, but that
prejudice was very strong in sectors of low educational level -the
illiteracy rate was around 30% those years- and among the
nearly-illiterate, and even among many professionals. That was a real
fact in our society.


Do you think that prejudice against homosexuals has been effectively
fought?

Discrimination against homosexuals has been largely overcome. Today
the people have acquired a general, rounded culture. I'm not going to
say there is no machismo, but now it's not anywhere near the way it
was back then, when that culture was so strong. With the passage of
years and the growth of consciousness about all of this, we have
gradually overcome problems and such prejudices have declined. But
believe me, it was not easy.


READ THIS AND MUCH MORE ON THIS SUBJECT:
http://www.walterlippmann.com/lgbt-cuba.html


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