Homophobia Is Not Incurable
May
22, 2009
By
Dalia Acosta
Lesbians often go
unseen in the broad movement against homophobia and transphobia in
most countries of Latin America. Photo: Caridad
HAVANA TIMES, May
22 (IPS) – With this past Sunday’s celebration of International
Struggle against Homophobia and Transphobia Day, a new campaign was
launched in support of sexual diversity, counseling homophobes to be
diagnosed and seek treatment for their “dysfunction.”
“Homophobia is an
illness, and it has a cure” was the title of the call presented by
Colegas (the Spanish Confederation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and
Transsexuals), which opposes theories, prejudices and stereotypes
that insist on equating all non-heterosexual qualities with
dysfunctions, illnesses or abnormalities.
Similarly, a few
weeks ago Cuba’s National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX)
began its campaign titled “Diversity is the Norm,” an effort that
will extend throughout this entire year but which had its highpoint
on Saturday.
A conga – led by
gays, lesbians, transsexuals and people sensitized in the sexual
diversity struggle – extended some 200 yards along 23rd Street in
the very heart of Havana, and without any interference by the police
or anyone else.
“We didn’t
organize a gay march, because gays are not the problem; the problem
is homophobia,” said CENESEX director Mariela Castro when
inaugurating the main event of the nation-wide celebration, which
included panels, debates, book presentations, concerts, exhibits and
activities in other Cuban provinces.
Added to the
activities at the Cuba Pavilion exhibition center, held for the
first time last year, was an intense program at the headquarters of
the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), which involved
some of the most important intellectuals in the country in a gesture
of clear support of the position taken by CENESEX.
Call for
greater government support
A few weeks ago Cuba’s National Center for
Sexual Education (CENESEX) began its campaign titled “Diversity is
the Norm”. Photo: Caridad
However, contrary
to last year, when the celebrations had a significant coverage, the
Cuban mass media hardly reported the events this time, an omission
that was criticized by participants at the Pavilion.
The inadequate
work of the press, underhanded discrimination behind administrative
decisions that violate the nation’s laws, the absence of
opportunities for sharing experiences and police prejudice were only
a few of the problems that were raised during the panel discussion
on “Sexual Diversity and the Family.”
“The general tone
was not one of despair but of dissent, with an understanding of the
need and the demand for greater government support,” said Gustavo
Alvarado, a research center worker from Matanzas Province. He
traveled to the capital to attend the day’s main activity.
While gays,
lesbians and transsexuals in Cuba spoke up for their rights in a
peaceful and rather festival way, news arrived from Russia about a
police crackdown on a gay pride march in which some 25 people were
arrested.
Marches, critiques
and the presentation of sensitization campaigns also occurred in
other countries of Latin America for this annual celebration, which
evokes the memory of May 17, 1990, the date when the World Health
Organization struck homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses.
A crowd also
marched on the Honduran seat of government protesting several acts
of violence and the death of members of that country’s “lesbian,
gay, trans and bisexual community.”
Likewise, the
Bolivian press reported that acting Ombudsman Patricia Flores called
on the people of that country to “break with religious taboos and
cultural prejudices, because people of different sexual orientations
and identities have the same rights as anyone else.”
A report by the
International Association of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual, Trans and
Intersexuals disclosed last week that 80 countries have homophobic
laws sponsored by their respective governments. In fact,
homosexuality is punished by death in Iran, Mauritania, Saudi
Arabia, Sudan, Yemen and areas of Nigeria and Somalia.
Meanwhile, the
Joint Program of the United Nations on HIV/AIDS (ONUSIDA), in a
statement issued Friday, acknowledged that homophobia impedes the
struggle against this pandemic.
Research carried
out in Cuba has revealed that zero-positive gays have experienced
more discrimination and stigma because of their sexual orientation
than for being HIV carriers.
Around 80 percent
of Cubans infected with HIV are men, and most of them continue to
have sex with other men.
Lesbians
demand visibility
Another disclosure
was that the demands of lesbians usually go unseen in the broad
movement against homophobia and transphobia in most countries of
Latin America.
“We did everything
ourselves. We printed as many stickers and leaflets as we could,”
said Monica Collazo. She is a member of Oremi, a CENESEX forum for
reflection among lesbians and female bisexuals, an organized effort
that has begun to expand to other Cuban provinces.
Collazo believes
that information on lesbians should have the same priority in public
campaigns as that of male homosexuality and transexuality, which
also receive favored treatment in efforts to sensitize people to
populations classified as most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.
“Who knows about
the services that CENESEX provides? How do we find out where to go
when our rights are violated? How many lesbians in Havana know that
there are places for them? When will we have access to assisted
fertilization?” asked several women interviewed by IPS.
Assisted (in vitro)
fertilization for lesbians is part of a package of proposals
promoted by CENESEX and the Federation of Cuban Women. Also included
is the reform of the country’s Family Code, which –if approved– will
recognize equal rights for heterosexual and homosexual couples.