Minority Report: Cuban Gays in the International Media

All media exists to invest our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values.- Marshall McLuhan (1964)Revolutionary Cuba has been a fixture in the international media for decades. Topics that made headlines around the globe have included Fidel Castro's death, US-Cuba relations, visits to Havana by the Pope, Cuba's international medical missions, and economic changes under Raul Castro. One topic, however, which has been crucial to human development in contemporary Cuba, has received comparatively little media attention - sexual diversity1 (LGBT) rights.Sexual diversity rights has been a topic of increasing importance in contemporary Cuba, although this has not always been the case. For example, probably one of the largest stains on the history of revolutionary Cuba was the treatment of homosexual men in the 1960s and 1970s. From forced attendance in the Military Units to Aid Production (UMAP) labour camps, to imprisonment, and struggles under discriminatory legislation, the first decades of the Revolution were fraught with prejudice and homophobia (Madero 2016; Roque Guerra 2011). While homosexuality was officially decriminalised in 1979, and some changes occurred through the 1980s and 1990s, it was not until some years later that attention to sexual diversity rights would be prioritised within the revolutionary framework. Yet despite the significant shifts from these earlier events, very little media attention has been given to this topic.Significant changes began in 2007, with the first celebrations for the International Day Against Homophobia (17 May). Following this, sweeping national programmes and campaigns emerged focusing on the normalisation of sexual diversity and the importance of respect (rather than tolerance or acceptance) (Kirk 2011). For example, the National Program for Sexual Education and Sexual Health (ProNess) was re-written between 2012 and 2013 to include themes of diverse sexual orientation and gender identities, and the New Family Code, including rights for non-heteronormative families, was presented to the National Assembly in 2012 (Kirk 2015). Although there are ongoing issues associated with machismo and discrimination (particularly in the more rural provinces), sexual diversity has largely been normalised throughout the island - a considerable achievement given Cuba's extensive homophobic past and the deep-rooted machismo. Nonetheless, these events have largely been ignored in the international media.The most important element to this normalisation process, which has received equally little attention, has undoubtedly been the Ministry of Public Health's (MINSAP) National Centre of Sexual Education (CENESEX) (Castro Espin 2013). The Centre, directed by Mariela Castro Espin, has employed a unique health-based approach to normalise sexual diversity. The approach focuses on the discrimination-health link, which asserts that discrimination is detrimental to individual and national health. Based on this approach, CENESEX has, among other things, organised the celebrations for the International Day Against Homophobia, developed a series of 'Networks' that work throughout the island to conduct research as well as distribute information, established an internationally recognised research journal (Sexologia y Sociedad), developed the National Commission for Attention of Trans Persons, and functions as an advisor to other ministries and mass organisations (Roque Guerra 2011; Castro Espin 2011).In particular, coverage of the most significant changes in politics and public policy has been minimal at best. For example, in 2008, the Minister of Public Health signed Resolution 126, which legalised sexual reassignment surgery (Roque Guerra 2011). In 2010, Fidel Castro formally apologised for the UMAP camps and the pervasive homophobia of the 1960s (Reuters 2010). The following year, the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) changed its Fundamental Principles - the basis on which the Party's ideology is communicated - to include respect for sexual diversity (Castro 2012; Cubadebate 2011). …