While this shouldn't be a cause for concern when travelling outside the capital, it's nonetheless advisable to take each social context into account. However, other provinces aren't quite as liberal as Havana (although you'll find gay havens such as the city of Santa Clara and Mi Cayito beach). In general, as foreigners, LGBTQ+ travellers will find that they warrant a certain level of respect and deference, regardless of their sexuality or gender. Trans people will be relieved to hear that, in Havana, 'travestis' (as is the reclaimed term in Cuba) have quite a high level of visibility - though this doesn't mean that you won't encounter some ignorance along the way (as you would in any country). Women should also take into account that the lesbian scene in Cuba is more underground than that of queer males. Although it's fine to openly travel as a couple, Cuban society is still socially conservative and public displays of affection between same-sex couples are rare. LGBTQ+ travellers will find that they can be open with locals about their sexuality during their travels in Cuba. Cuba's brave LGBTQ+ community are pulling up the flag up loud and proud - so there's never been a better time for queer travellers to join in the gozadera on the Caribbean's hottest island! Honest Advice on Safe Travelling in CubaĬuba is generally a safe and non-violent country, having been awarded the title of Safest Travel Destination in 2018, and in general is more tolerant than most other Latin American and Caribbean countries. Today, Cuba enjoys an annual gay pride parade across the country, and a booming gay nightlife scene, helping to dispel some of the machista attitudes that were once deeply ingrained in Cuban society.
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By 2010, Fidel Castro accepted full responsibility for the persecution of homosexuals in the early years of the Revolution, and by 2012, Cuba welcomed its first openly transgender politician to government.
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This led to a slow but steady sexual liberalisation in social, political and cultural spheres, epitomised by the groundbreaking release of Cuba's most internationally-regarded film, Fresa y Chocolate, in 1993 - a movie that wholeheartedly changed the discourse surrounding homosexuality for an entire generation.įast-forward 10 years and Mariela Castro (Fidel's niece and Raul Castro's daughter) was spearheading the fight for LGBTQ-rights in Cuba, leading to the provision of free gender-reassignment surgery under its health system in 2008. Homosexuality was decriminalised in 1979 and by 1986, the National Commission on Sex Education (CENESEX) had announced that homosexuality was a sexual orientation and that homophobia needed to be curbed through education. An affront to the hypermasculine aspirations of the Revolution, countless members of the LGBT+ community were incarcerated and sent to work camps, along with others deemed to be diversionistas ideologicos (such as political dissenters, religious people, and hippies). The early years of the Revolution were nothing short of appalling with regards to LGBTQ+ rights, as homosexuality was considered ideological diversionism. But it's been no easy feat for Cuba's LGBTQ+ community to reach this potential breaking point in Cuban history.
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With the recent appointment of Miguel Diaz Canel to the Cuban Presidency - the first non-Castro to rule in almost 60 years - there's talk of an update to the Cuban constitution that could include the legalisation of same-sex marriage.
In recent years, Cuba has begun to feel the rumbles of a sexual revolution.