Cuban transgender woman becomes 1st to hold elected office

[sandinista]

Cuban transgender woman becomes 1st to hold elected office

For years after the 1959 Cuban Revolution, authorities hounded people of differing sexual orientation and others considered threatening, such as priests, long-haired youths and rock 'n' roll enthusiasts. But there have been notable changes in attitudes toward sexuality.

"I would like to think that discrimination against homosexuals is a problem that is being overcome," Fidel Castro told an interviewer some years ago.

Since 2007 the island has been covering sex-change surgery under its free health care system. Last year a gay man and a transsexual woman whose operation was paid for by the state garnered headlines for their first-of-its kind wedding.

The country's most prominent gay rights activist is Mariela Castro, Fidel's niece and current President Raul Castro's daughter.

As director of Cuba's National Center for Sex Education, Mariela Castro has instituted awareness campaigns, trained police on relations with the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender community and lobbied parliament to legalize same-sex unions.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Cuban+ ... story.html

[Jason]

Best dictatorship ever.

[sandinista]

Best dictatorship ever.