Cuba Almost Legalized Same-Gender Marriage
Cuba’s updated constitution almost legalized same-gender marriage, but at the last minute, conservative pushback kept the change out.
According to New Now Next, queer rights activists in Cuba previously pushed to add same-gender marriage language to the revised draft of the constitution. If this change had gone through, the constitution would now refer to marriage as a union between “two people” instead of a man and a woman.
However, yesterday the government announced that they would not be taking this step. Instead, marriage will be omitted entirely from this draft as “a way of respecting all opinions.”
Cuba Eliminates Language About Same-Sex Marriage From Draft of New Constitution: After pushback from evangelical churches and citizens, the commission revising the Constitution said it would eliminate the language “as a way of respecting all opinions.” https://t.co/ZloX2bwj5w pic.twitter.com/llG1iwnXG9
— Secretos de Cuba (@SecretosdeCuba) December 19, 2018
While some are disappointed by this decision and see it as a cop-out, others feel it is a way to leave the discussion open for future, pro-LGBTQ legislation.
“It’s a solution,” explained Francisco Rodriguez, a Communist Party member and gay blogger from Cuba, according to New Now Next. “Not ‘between a man and a woman’ or ‘between two people.’ Now is when it all begins.”
This may not be a huge step forward, but it’s evidence that Cuba wants to take those steps eventually.
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