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WORLD NEWS

Cuba Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

By: Saba Aamir Layout Designer

On September 26, Cuba approved a referendum for a new "Family Code" that legalizes same-sex marriage.

The 100-page Code allows same-sex couples to marry and adopt children and extends protection for women, children and the elderly.

This reform marks a major advance for the communist-run island where the LGBTQ+ community has faced discrimination for decades.

According to www.apnews.com, 3.9 million Cubans (66.9%) voted in favor of ratifying the measure, which had more than 400 articles, while 1.95 million (33.1%) did not.

The evangelical movement and other Cubans strongly opposed the reform despite an extensive government effort supporting it.

Additionally, the country that usually has a high voting rate saw a 26% abstention rate at the referendum.

Cuba’s national election commission (CEN) data showed that the number of abstentions, blank ballots, null votes and "No" votes totaled 4.4 million, meaning that almost half of the population did not explicitly support the Family Code, according to www.elpais.com, a Spanishlanguage daily newspaper. Experts stated that the blank and null ballots were part of the protests against the government rather than an opposition to the new Code.

According to www.elpais.com, some LGBTQ+ activists announced on social media that they would be voting "No” to protest the ongoing political situation in the country.

Regarding the opposition against the Code, President Díaz-Canel stated, "There are people who demonstrate against the Code, especially on social media, using vulgar and hateful language."

He added, "If the Code said the opposite of what it says, those haters would be criticizing it too. It is not a problem of convictions, reasoning, rationality or feelings; people adopt that position because they consider that if it is a Code within the Revolution, then it should not be valid."

The 100-page Code was subjected to hours of discussion in community meetings and more than two dozen drafts. The final version, which replaces the 1975 Family Code, recognizes step-fathers and step-mothers as legal guardians, allows surrogate pregnancies and forbids child marriages. In an interview with Hypermedia magazine, prestigious jurist Julio Fernández Estrada described the new Code as a "very progressive law."

He also stated, "It is a Code for an ideal country, for the country I would like [to live in], but not for the country that exists in reality. We are fighting for bread and antibiotics and we have a hard time looking at the part of justice hidden underneath our material and basic survival."

According to www.bbc.com, the reform was the culmination of efforts by LGBTQ+ rights activists in Cuba.

Following the referendum results, many same-sex couples announced their engagement and celebrated the new Code.

Further, President Miguel Díaz-Canel tweeted, “Justice has been done. It is paying off a debt with several generations of Cuban men and women, whose family projects have been waiting for this law for years.”

It is the first step for a Latin-American country to have this law and allow samesex couples to adopt children. The new Code proves that the communist-run island is adapting to the recent times and showing progress and hope for other countries as well.

*The Catholic Church does not approve of same-sex marriage.