In Cuba, citizens rarely have the opportunity to participate in politics. Now the population of the Caribbean state can vote on a new family law. Almost 67 percent of voters support marriage for all. But not only homosexuals should benefit.
According to the government, Cubans voted in a referendum in favor of marriage for all and adoption for same-sex couples. Accordingly, a large majority of those entitled to vote decided in favor of a new family law that can now come into force. The law also provides for the possibility of surrogacy and legal guardianship for non-biological parents, as well as measures to protect the rights of children and the elderly.
According to the preliminary result, almost 67 percent of the valid votes were "yes", as the electoral authority of the socialist Caribbean state announced. As the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" reported, a good eight million Cubans aged 16 and over were able to cast their votes in more than 23,000 polling stations. Around 74 percent took part. The closure of polling stations in several provinces was postponed by an hour due to heavy rain.
In Cuba, citizens rarely have such an opportunity for participation. Parliament is elected, but only the Communist Party is allowed. Most recently, however, the current constitution, which came into force in 2019, was decided by referendum.
The government had campaigned in the state media, with rallies and on posters to vote for the new family law. "A just, necessary, updated and modern law that brings rights and guarantees for everyone," said Cuba's President Miguel Díaz-Canel. After announcing the preliminary result, the Presidential Office tweeted "
Cuba's Catholic Church has spoken out against new rights for same-sex couples. Conservative ideas about gender roles are strong in Cuba. In the 1960s, gay men in Cuba were sent to prison camps for "re-education." However, today's government - particularly in the person of Mariela Castro, daughter of ex-President Raúl Castro and head of the Center for Sexual Education - takes a progressive stance on LGBTQ rights issues.
Some dissidents had announced on social media that they would abstain or vote "no" regardless of their opinion of the law so as not to allow the government to succeed. Some had speculated that the result was known before the count. On Twitter, the identifier was "
Cuba is suffering from serious economic problems, partly because of the slump in tourism since the beginning of the corona pandemic and because of US sanctions. There is a shortage of food and medicine, and there are many power cuts. On July 11, 2021, what may be the largest anti-government protests since the 1959 revolution broke out in many cities. Hundreds of participants were sentenced to prison terms, some of them long. The island state has been experiencing a large wave of emigration for the past year.
