Granma Lisandra Fariñas Acosta
Opening minds and breaking new ground
For the first time, Cuba will host the VI Regional Conference of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association for Latin America and the Caribbean (ILGALAC), to be held in tandem with the VII Cuban Workshop against Homophobia.
The VI Regional Conference of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association for Latin America and the Caribbean (ILGALAC) will be held in Cuba for the first time, on this occasion in parallel with the VII Cuban Workshop against Homophobia.
From May 6 thru 9, Matanzas city’s Plaza América Convention Center will be the venue of this event organized in favor of the recognition of sexual such as freedom of sexual orientation and gender identity as human rights.
National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX) director Mariela Castro Espín said in a press conference that the ILGALAC meetings reflect the increasingly stronger and closes links of fraternity and respect of diversity in the region. “If we fail to develop bonds based on our views to have the political influence we need, we will not make any progress”.
Castro Espín also pointed out that the VII Cuban Workshop against Homophobia will take place in a context marked by the approval of a new Labor Code that bans anti-gay employment discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity and stands as the first explicit legal sign of the political will stated in the First Conference of the Party to eliminate all forms of discrimination.
“This Code puts Cuba among the first nations with specific legislation against discrimination as well as on the leading edge in matters of labor laws designed to protect the LGTBI community (lesbians, gays, transgender, bisexual and intersex), which opens new legal horizons as far as every individual's sexual rights are concerned”, she stressed.
In this connection, she remarked that today's Cuba has its sights on dialogue as a way to close off legal loopholes on the basis of clear-cut references to nondiscrimination in the relevant legislations, namely our Penal Code and Family Law.
She drew attention to the fact that more and more institutions are cooperating with these activities, and praised the presence in this Workshop of activists from around the world as a plus for the program, which includes exchanges with the Cuban people through community social networks.
The Workshop will be hosted by the provinces of Havana and Granma, and for the first time a rural municipality –Buey Arriba– will be a venue to the May 17 celebrations marking both World Day against Homophobia and the Cuban Peasantry Day.
Castro Espín highlighted the updating and improvement of the Cuban education system’s program for sex education and sexual health and its role in the inculcation of values against discrimination and stigma, for which qualified teachers are paramount.
Scheduled to close its doors on May 24, the Cuban Workshop against Homophobia will be focused on family as the setting where people are become more vulnerable for their sexual orientation or gender identity.