[Marxism] Cuba: Elizabeth and Monicaâs Wedding

[Walter Lippmann <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Cuba: Elizabeth and Monicaâs Wedding     

Written by Dalia Acosta    

Friday, 28 December 2007 

(IPS) The veils, gloves, roses and dresses are white. Monica and Elizabeth hold 
hands and exchange rings on this afternoon in Cuba overflowing with symbolism, 
tears, laughter and hugs from people who have supported them over the last two 
years.

"I loved you from the moment I first saw you. You were the woman I was looking 
for, and I am the woman of your dreams," says MÃnica, 19, who cannot help 
remembering the hard times their relationship went through. "We were on the 
point of living under a bridge, but there were always good friends who 
understood and helped us."

Elizabeth, 28, responds, moments before the ring and the kiss. "I always said 
that every day I discover something new about you. Iâm still amazed at your 
attitude towards lifeâs challenges. I owe my strength to you. Because of you, 
I know where Iâm going and what I want, and what freedom means. You are my 
bride, my friend and my lifelong partner."

The words and images of every moment of Sundayâs ceremony were recorded on 
film by a team of students from the Cuban Higher Institute of Art (ISA). It is 
not the first symbolic wedding of a lesbian couple to have taken place on this 
Caribbean island, but it is the first to enjoy support from a state institution.

The National Centre for Sex Education (CENESEX), which for several years has 
been promoting greater understanding of sexual diversity, loaned its inner 
courtyard for the ceremony and the celebration that followed for 60 friends, 
ISA students and a handful of representatives of the institution.

"It made sense for us to open our doors for this, even though weâre not a 
party salon. Where better to experience such an event?" psychologist Norma 
Guillard, deputy head of the sexual diversity section of the Cuban 
Multidisciplinary Society for the Study of Sexuality (SOCUMES), told IPS.

Guillard, who also coordinates a discussion group for lesbian and bisexual 
women which has been meeting at CENESEX for three years now, said that opening 
its doors to an event like Sundayâs wedding is completely consistent with the 
work of an institution that "is open to understanding and to the struggle 
against homophobia."

"An event will happen that will change our lives, and yours too. We invite you 
to take part in this revolution of love â It will become a part of history or 
it will just remain in your memory, itâs up to you," said the handmade 
invitation on recycled paper received by IPS.

A study carried out by journalists in Cuba early this decade found that social 
disapproval of lesbians is far greater even than that faced by homosexual or 
bisexual men. Lesbians or bisexual women have greater difficulties coming out 
of the closet, in their families or in society, because of the traditional 
roles assigned to women and mothers.

Lesbians even come across incomprehension within the gay community, which is 
itself affected by the dominant machista culture. A man may do as he wishes 
with his life and his sexuality, according to many homosexual and bisexual men, 
but women are not accorded the same freedom.

"In the view of many young lesbian women, this is an homage to love. We are 
trying to raise awareness of this issue based on that which makes us most 
human, our feelings -- in this case love," Hanny MarÃn, a third year student 
at ISA and the director of the filming of the wedding, told IPS.

Their story began many years ago, when Monica was a little girl and Elizabeth 
used to visit Monicaâs brother. Time passed and each went their own way, 
until they met again about two years ago. "I was always an open book to 
everyone since childhood. Elizabeth wasnât; she was always more reserved," 
said Monica.

They had to overcome obstacles and hostility. Elizabeth just told her family 
they were having a party. Monicaâs mother helped them with all the 
preparations, but did not want to be there for one of the most important events 
of her daughterâs life. "It would have been too hard for her to swallow," 
Monica told IPS.

A proposal for legal reform advocated by CENESEX and the Cuban Womenâs 
Federation calls for the recognition of de facto unions between same-sex 
couples and equal rights for heterosexual and homosexual couples, as well as 
eligibility to adopt children and, for women, access to assisted fertilisation 
services.

The legal machinery is already rolling and the initiative may reach parliament 
in 2008, but no one can predict how long it will take to come to a vote. 
Meanwhile, CENESEX was advised by the ruling Communist Party to make efforts to 
prepare the public through a media campaign.

"This should be seen as absolutely normal. Each to his or her own. Iâm 
heterosexual, but that doesnât prevent me from understanding people who are 
different. What this couple is doing is really courageous, at the present 
time," Aldo DÃaz, an old friend of Elizabethâs and best man at the wedding, 
told IPS.

DÃaz read the "essential requirements" before sealing the union: "may you 
never lack the commitment, honesty, courage and intelligence to enjoy the good 
and accept the bad in your partner and in yourselves. From this moment you are 
to speak your thoughts aloud to your other half, and this is the best gift and 
the highest encouragement."

"May there always be a warm kiss on your lips, a sweet and ardent look in your 
eyes, a gentle caress in your hands, and in your minds thoughts of affection, 
admiration and concern for the needs of your other half," added the other best 
man at this marriage which, for the moment, requires no lawyers or legal 
registry.

MÃnica and Elizabeth look forward to the day that their union can be 
legalised, but for them it will only be a bureaucratic procedure. "Weâll go 
and sign, and thatâs all. And that day will come, because we have made great 
progress on these issues, in spite of the lack of understanding. We are a 
living example," said Monica.  































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Walter Lippmann
Havana, Cuba
"Un paraÃso bajo el bloqueo"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
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