From Freeze to Thaw: Toward LGBTI Rights in Cuba Today

In this paper, I examine transgender and gay rights in contemporary Cuba. While there is much written historically on the topic of gay rights in the years just after the Revolution, very little has been written about the modern day, and even less which focuses on transgender rights and health issues. I examine Cuba’s state-run healthcare system as well as their state sexual education department, CENESEX. I argue that Cuba has evolved alongside changing global attitudes about sexual and gender diversity and has adapted their education and healthcare systems to match their change of heart. To do this, I first provide brief historical context beginning in pre-Columbian Cuba and ending with the victory of the Revolutionary Armed Forces in 1959. From there, I first examine LGBTI rights under the early days of the Revolution and finally move into the sudden change of heart which occurred in the last three decades.