- Title: Cubans march against homophobia
- Date: 14th May 2016
- Summary: MUSICIANS PERFORMING COUPLE DANCING WITH RAINBOW FLAG
- Embargoed: 29th May 2016 21:04
- Keywords: lgbt parade march malecon rights
- Location: HAVANA, CUBA
- City: HAVANA, CUBA
- Country: Cuba
- Topics: Living/Lifestyle,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0044HS3V43
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Hundreds of members of Cuba's LGBT community staged a colourful parade through the streets of Havana on Saturday (May 14) against homophobia and to call for equal rights for the community.
Activists walked and danced alongside Havana's famed malecon, past the historic Hotel Nacional where tourists took photographs of the "Conga Against Homophobia" parade.
Mariela Castro, who is the daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro and who heads Cuba's National Sexual Education Centre (CENESEX), led the parade.
She has made great strides as Cuba's top LGBT activist in pushing for gay marriage laws and said she has high hopes those rights would be expanded after last month's Communist Party Congress.
"Marriage isn't the greatest aspiration to guarantee rights but we do defend it as an option, just like heterosexual couples have. That's why from the Seventh (Communist) Party Congress (in April of 2016) that expressed very clear matters over sexual identify and gender identity rights, and the call for the legislative response to advance more quickly, I think we will have quicker surprises than we expect," she said.
American actress Candis Cayne, who is transgender, said she was proud to have been invited to partake in the parade.
"I think it's important, since things are starting to open up, that we bridge the gap of becoming a global community. So it's really important to me to be the first LGBT honorary ambassador to come to Cuba," she said.
Cuban homosexuals, persecuted in the 1960s and 1970s by authorities who sent many gays to military-run work camps, have gained more freedom in recent years.
Fidel Castro, who ruled the island for almost half a century after the 1959 Cuban Revolution, surprised many in 2010 by expressing regret in an interview for the repression of homosexuals during the early years of his revolution.
The parade in Havana was held ahead of the International Day Against Homophobia on May 17. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: Audio restrictions: This clip's Audio includes copyrighted material. User is responsible for obtaining additional clearances before publishing the audio contained in this clip.