In historic referendum, Cuba legalizes exact same-intercourse relationship

By Patrick Oppmann | VFAB

Cuba has legalized exact-intercourse marriage right after Cubans voted in favor of a loved ones code that enhanced protections for minorities on the island, the country’s National Electoral Council declared on Monday.

The Electoral Council claimed 74.1% of all those qualified to vote in Sunday’s nationwide referendum had turned out to forged their ballot.

With 94% of the votes counted as of 9am ET on Monday early morning, 3,936,790 experienced voted in favor and 1,950,090 from — signaling an overpowering assist for the new legislation.

The new relatives code extends greater safety to females, small children and the elderly, as properly as allowing for LGBTQ partners to marry and undertake little ones.

For many years, LGBTQ individuals in Cuba confronted official discrimination on the communist-operate island. In the early 1960’s, after Fidel Castro took electric power, lots of gay persons had been despatched to authorities do the job camps together with political dissidents. However homosexuality was legalized in Cuba in 1979, many homosexual adult males and girls mentioned they still confronted open discrimination.

Mariela Castro, the daughter of previous Cuban president Raul Castro, has overtly advocated by way of a government-funded center for enhanced legal rights for gays, lesbians and transgender folks. But the force for greater equality confronted stiff opposition from both exterior and from inside the Cuban federal government.

In 2018, Cuban legislators deserted provisions that would have legalized very same intercourse relationship amid fears that a homophobic backlash would have lowered turnout for a referendum to approve a new structure. The following year, Cuban police broke up a peaceful LGBTQ legal rights parade saying the marchers did not have permission to keep the rally.

Cuba’s developing evangelical group in distinct had overtly advocated towards approving the loved ones code. But in the weeks right before the referendum, the Cuban authorities designed a whole court press in favor of the new relatives code across point out-operate media, arguing the new code is proof the island’s now extra than 6-a long time-previous-revolution is able of adapting to the moments.