Equal marriage voted for in Cuba

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Sunday, July 22, 2018

Cuba to enshrine equal marriage in the constitution

Marriage will now be ‘a consensual union between two people without distinction of sex’

LGBT rights activists in Cuba celebrated on Saturday after the country’s National Assembly voted to enshrine equal marriage in the new draft constitution.

Under a new definition, marriage will now be recognised as “a consensual union between two people without distinction of sex”, in a landmark decision.

Previously Cuba’s constitution only recognised marriage as between a woman and a man.

However State Council secretary Homero Acosta said: “I believe that our project’s standards for equality, justice and humanism are reinforced by the possibility of marriage between two people.

“There are around 24 countries that have this concept incorporated and we cannot turn our back on this issue when we are shaping the constitution.”

It was welcomed as a victory for equal rights in Cuba with Mariela Castro having led a campaign for the adoption of same-sex marriage.

Speaking earlier this year, she praised Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel for his “sensibilities and awareness” on LGBT issues.

Homosexuality was decriminalised in Cuba in 1979. However there were few protections for LGBT people in the country’s legislation and no rights for same-sex couples.

LGBT rights activist Francisco Rodriguez welcomed the move, saying it would be “the open door to be able to make advances in the legalisation of homosexual couples.”

‘Free love’ or ‘family values’ — is there a Marxist view? Here.