Lesbian Activist Elected Representative at the Municipal Government or Charliery's Hard Job

She was nominated unanimously at the barrio meeting on the proposal of her partner, with whom she has raised a daughter and a son along their 25-year relationship. She obtained the large majority of the votes on the April 19^th election and won four of the five polling stations of Constituency 76 in the Havana municipality of Diez de Octubre, where she has lived for two years. She believes in God and openly said to the electorate that she is a lesbian.

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Charliery de Dios, delegate to the Municipal Assembly of People's Power in the Havana municipality of Diez de Octubre. Photos: Miguel Angel Plasencia

This is the story Belkis Gonzalez Duquesne –writer, poet, composer and scriptwriter– told me. Since 1997 or 98 she prefers to be called Charliery de Dios, as a personal tribute to the famous filmmaker and comedian Charles Chaplin and to her own religious beliefs.

"Laughter is something divine, wonderful. I like listening to people laugh, but from their soul, not because they are drunk or stoned. I love that fresh laughter, its joy ... Someone who made people laugh even at difficult moments in his life was Chaplin. I'm a huge fan," she said.

I had already been told of this electoral victory, which pleased me as much as the re-election of Adela, the first transsexual delegate to the Poder Popular –equivalent to councilperson– back there in Caibarien, Villa Clara.

But it was not until last Friday that I met Charliery. I could talk at length with her and with María de los Angeles Machín Chil, her partner, in the gardens of the Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC) [National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba]. We met after the activities –already a tradition—that took place there as part of this year’s 8^th Cuban Drive against Homophobia and Transphobia

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Machín and Charliery–are lesbian activists of group Oremi

When they arrived in Havana from the town of Cárdenas in Matanzas province, Charliery and Machín began to participate as activists in the Oremi group. The group is formed by lesbian and bisexual women who are part of the community social networks of the Centro Nacional de Educación Sexual (Cenesex) [National Center for Sex Education], a fact that possibly inspired them to take a courageous step –not without risks– during the recent elections for members of the municipal assemblies or local governments.

 “It was not premeditated,” they both coincide. The day before the candidate nomination assembly, as they received the call for participation, they talked vaguely about the electoral process.–At the meeting, however, after other people in the neighborhood made the first four proposals, Machin thought Charliery was better able to fulfill this public office, and asked for the floor.

She argued that Charliery began her working life at age 19 in the Ejército Central [Central Army] after she graduated as a specialist in logistics and apparel tactical command. She became food and service platoon commander in the workshops of the Central Army and was there until 1988 when she requested her maternity discharge. Then she worked at the Los Cactus Hotel in Varadero, operated by Cubanacan S.A. She studied languages, marketing and other management courses that allowed her to undertake various responsibilities for other companies.

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The task of the Delegate will not be easy in one of the most overpopulated municipalities in Havana.

Since she moved to Havana in search of more challenges in her creative work, Charliery has also promoted various community initiatives, in coordination with organizations such as the Federation of Cuban Women, to support health, education and culture. Her actions include counseling for the prevention of violence against women and girls, and the creation of facilities for the health care of lesbians.

After Machin explained all this about the professional career and social activism of her partner, Charliery took the floor for a point of clarification. There, for all the electorate, in an explicit recognition of her lesbian sexual orientation, she spoke of the link of love between her and her partner that has lasted more than a quarter of a century.

She also explained how together they raised her daughter and Machin’s son, which at that time were two and three years respectively.–Today –already adults—they are brother and sister who love each other dearly and consider them both their mothers. That evening, to their great surprise and satisfaction, in that area of ​​nomination, Charliery achieved, by the show of hands established in our democratic electoral process, the unanimous support to her nomination.

Then was the election in competition with a candidate of broad experience in the town, in one of the most complex and largest urban municipalities in Havana. In only one of the five polling stations her rival won, and the difference of votes there was of only 15.

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They told us that the little boy was going to be a sissy and the girl a tomboy. But as you can see she is a very feminine and sensitive girl who likes men very much; and he is as macho male as you can think of...

“It was very emotional,” Charliery said, “because people were waiting for the results of the count until ten at night.” “And when they announced the victory,” said Machin, “the neighborhood began shouting with joy.” “It seemed like a football game,” joked the elected delegate.

She, however, declined to attend the public counting of votes it polling stations. She was entitled to do so, as any other voter could. She had been invited by the electoral committee. But Charliery said no, she would leave everything to God. It's the way I am. “If I had attended, I would have felt uncomfortable,” she said.

Here I must add a very special thing about the faith of this couple. After getting to know the Catholic and Protestant churches in Cardenas, they severed their link with such institutions. They say they worship God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit.

“We worship at home, read the Bible, and sing Charliery’s lyrics,” Machin explained. However, both women took part in the celebration of love last Saturday at the Pabellon Cuba, where Christian leaders blessed the homosexual unions of those persons who wanted it, and even made statements to the press.

Charliery knows it will not be easy to fulfill her responsibilities as municipal delegate of the People's Power in Diez de Octubre. Her biggest concern is the overcrowding of a significant part of the population in the area. There are also serious structural problems in many buildings: problems accumulated along many years both in housing and other public service infrastructures. There are also difficulties in electrical lines and sewage facilities.

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The new delegate and her partner for 25 years also participated in the Conga against Homophobia along the central Avenida 23, in Vedado.

She will also have to deal with serious social problems such as alcoholism and other addictions, present even among adolescents and women, especially in menopause. “We have to work hard with the families, before this happens,” she said.

 “We must demand more from the local administrations and public office holders in the municipality to provide timely responses to the electorate. We must contribute to their knowledge of the measures that are part of the updating of the Cuban economic model and could benefit the population such as the handing out of vacant lots for buildings and other facilities.–We must also promote options that provide greater spirituality.” These are the initial ideas for the two and a half years of her mandate.

And to assist, represent and be an example of perseverance for the citizens who elected her, Charliery will surely have the strength that being a victim of lesbian phobia brought forth in this couple along so many years.

When she and Machin began their relationship in 1989 they were 23 and 26 years old. “We were taken several times to the police station; we were arrested and they tried to take away the custody of our children,” they tell me referring to the persecution they suffered from the biological parents of their children and their families who still do not accept them.

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We have a beautiful family: she and I, and our two children ...

“At the height of the special period we were in the street with nothing, just the clothes we had on, and our two children,” they recall. Charliery’s father sold the house where they had almost finished building a room. They had no choice but to illegally break into an apartment –the result of that murky family business– to get a roof over the heads of their two children.

“They told us that the little boy was going to be a sissy and the girl a tomboy. But as you can see she is a very feminine and sensitive girl who likes men very much, and he is as macho male as you can think of...,” say these two proud mothers as they show me the photos of their daughter’s wedding. The girl studied teaching, and then she worked in tourism; now she lives in Italy. They also showed me photos of the son who is a chef at a hotel in Varadero.

“Our children love us very much,” said Charliery. “We have a beautiful family: she and I, and our two children; and now we’ll wait for the grandchildren ...”

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