FIVE years ago, in the month of May, the National Sex Education Center, known as CENESEX, began organizing days devoted to opposing homophobia, hoping to contribute to the education of Cuban society about the importance of respecting every citizen’s right to freely and responsibly express his or her sexual orientation and/or gender identity, as a reflection of equality and social justice.

With support from the Communist Party, the government and civil society have joined this important effort, celebrating International Day against Homophobia with academic, educational, artistic activities and public debates across the island, helping to promote respect for sexual diversity.

The date of the event, May 17, was chosen because, on this day in 1990, the World Health Organization (WHO) approved an agreement eliminating homosexuality and bisexuality from its list of mental illnesses, an event described at the time as progress on the scientific and human rights fronts.

The term homophobia, as we know, refers to aversion, hate, fear, prejudice or discrimination toward homosexuals – lesbians and gays.

These ideas and sentiments extend to other non-heterosexual orientations and identities. There is biphobia when these attitudes are expressed toward a bisexual person who has an erotic orientation toward both genders and transphobia in the case of transgender individuals – transvestites and transsexuals.

Homophobia, biphobia and transphobia are expressed around the world through a variety of practices which include the silencing of any mention of the targeted person, limitations on his or her development, verbal insults and even extreme physical violence.

Discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is not officially recognized by all United Nations member states and, even today, around 80 countries still criminalize homosexuality and penalize homosexual acts between consenting adults with prison terms and even the death penalty.

CENESEX, led by Dr. Mariela Castro Espín, is a teaching, research and assistance institution addressing human sexuality, open to scientific investigation, the exchange of experiences and dialogue.

The Center’s mission is to administer the implementation of Cuba’s sexual educational policy, coordinating the participation of various entities and bodies which work in the areas of social communication, community development, education and sexual therapy, to contribute to the ability of human beings to express their sexuality in a full, healthy, enjoyable and responsible manner.

"Our efforts are directed toward opening spaces and broadening the needed dialogue throughout society to progressively modify concepts and attitudes, because we have inherited a very strong patriarchal, chauvinist and homophobic culture," according to CENESEX leaders.

They propose, "There is misogyny and homophobia in our society, even among people who consider themselves very revolutionary, who identify very much with the ideas of socialism, who, nevertheless, in everyday life, express discriminatory attitudes and not only in regards to gender and sexuality. So, if we do not discuss the problem, we will not advance as a society. We will not achieve a new society, with a new mindset."

Thus, the Center calls for collective reflection, looking to progress day by day, through communication, education and the exchange of ideas, to build an understanding of the just nature of the effort to root out all vestiges of discrimination in society, including that based on sexual orientation or gender identity.