- Title: CUBA: Cuban transsexual plans to marry her gay boyfriend
- Date: 16th July 2011
- Summary: RAINBOW FLAG AND A BOOK TITLED, "ILLUSTRATED MANUAL ON SEXUAL THERAPY" (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) IGNACIO ESTRADA, BOYFRIEND OF CUBA'S FIRST TRANSSEXUAL, SAYING: "There is going to be a before and after. When we say a 'before and after', it's because this will be the first marriage of its kind on the island." A PIN THAT READS, 'EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND SAFETY' CLOSE UP OF IRIEP
- Embargoed: 31st July 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Cuba, Cuba
- Country: Cuba
- Topics: Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVABSQR01F5HWMQJ7092S3YWZ7EL
- Story Text: Same-sex marriage is not legal in Cuba, but come this August the island will see the first marriage between two people to directly question the ban in what is being called Cuba's first "gay" wedding.
Wendy Iriepa, a 37-year-old woman, was born a man and was the first transgender person to have gender reassignment surgery in Cuba more than three-years-ago, and this August she plans to marry her gay boyfriend, Ignacio Estrada.
The couple spoke said they hope their wedding will push forward other equality issues facing the gay community in Cuba.
Their wedding date, August 13, was chosen to coincide with the birthday of former Cuban leader and revolutionary Fidel Castro, and they say it is a "gift" for Castro who last year recognized and took responsibility for abuses committed against homosexual Cubans under his watch in the 1960s and 70s.
Estrada, an activist for HIV-positive Cubans and a self-described opponent of the Castro government - now headed by Fidel's younger brother, Raul Castro - says their marriage will be a first for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Cuba.
"There is going to be a before and after. When we say a 'before and after', it's because this will be the first marriage of its kind on the island," Estrada told Reuters.
The couple says their marriage would not be possible without the work of Fidel Castro's daughter, Mariela Castro, who runs the National Sex Education Centre (CENESEX) and has been fundamental in lobbying the government to recognize certain gay rights.
It was Mariela Castro who pushed her father to allow state-run hospitals to perform Iriepa's sex reassignment surgery, a benefit now provided by the state free of charge to residents.
Iriepa is legally recognized a woman allowing her to freely marry Estrada.
Though she says she owes many thanks to CENESEX, Iriepa, who become a symbol for the centre after her October 2007 surgery, had a falling-out with Mariela in June last year after being questioned for her relationship with Estrada who is an independent activist critical of some of CENESEX's policy and of the communist-run government.
She recently resigned from her post and though their wedding plans are making waves on the island and throughout the LGBT community around the globe, Iriepa says she is not marrying for political reasons.
"I don't think my wedding… I don't want my wedding to be taken from a political point of view. Like that I am attacking the government, that maybe I'm attacking Fidel [Castro] or the revolution. I don't want people to see it like that. I want them to see it as two people that are defining, like Ignacio said before, a 'before and after'. Because that is what we've always said," Iriepa said.
Though sex change operations are now provided by the state, gay rights activists say there is still a lot of work to be done to break through traditional barriers they still face.
A Family Code legislation that would favour same-sex marriage has been delayed in parliament and Estrada says the LGBT community should continue to fight for their rights.
"What we are calling for is for all the people who feel the same as we do to come together and I think it is time to call on the government to lay down the path for us which really has been on its way for sometime now. So that these things continue to happen in Cuba so that we don't remain people behind those in the lead that are living in a world with new legislation. Why not? We want to push and we want to be a part of these new changes, of the start of the resurgence on the island," Estrada said.
Iriepa in the meantime is preparing for her dream wedding.
"I am going to wear a strapless dress. Nothing traditional, I don't like traditional weddings. I can't stand traditional," Iriepa added.
Though change may be slower to come than rights activists would like, Iriepa's wedding will be a symbol of change from the 1960s and 70s when, under Fidel Castro, Cuba was known as a 'machisto' government intolerant of homosexuality which went as far as sending homosexuals to work camps.
Today, Wendy and Ignacio, holding hands in the park, are planning their wedding, when in the 60s and 70s, gay Cubans including artists and intellectuals, fled the island to escape the marginalisation and discrimination they faced on the island. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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