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PHOTOS: Washington Blade returns to Cuba

IDAHOT events took place across the country

Published

8 years ago

May 21, 2018

A wooden Pride flag hangs on the wall inside the kitchen of Diverso, a private restaurant in Havana’s Vedado neighborhood. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

HAVANA — Cuba’s National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX), which Mariela Castro, the daughter of former Cuban President Raúl Castro, directs, organized a series of events this month in Havana and in the city of Pinar del Río that commemorated the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.

LGBTI activists who work independently of Mariela Castro and CENESEX in Havana and in the provinces of Artemisa and Villa Clara are among those with whom the Washington Blade spoke while in Cuba from May 8-18.

This trip took place less than a month after the Cuban National Assembly selected Miguel Díaz-Canel to succeed Raúl Castro as the country’s president. President Trump last June reinstated some of the travel and trade restrictions that former President Obama lifted in 2014 when he sought to normalize relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

: Cabaret Las Vegas is a government-owned gay club in Havana’s Vedado neighborhood. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: Moisés Leonardo of Corriente Martiana, a Cuban human rights organization that supports same-sex marriage, at his home in Cabañas, Cuba, on May 11, 2018. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: Violeta Cardoso, second from right, and her partner, Isabel Pacheco, second from left, attend an International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia march in Havana on May 12, 2018, that the National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX) organized. Cardoso last October received custody of her late daughter’s three children who she is raising with her partner. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: A woman who took part in an International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia march in Havana on May 12, 2018, that the National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX) organized holds a picture of Marielle Franco, a bisexual member of the Rio de Janeiro City Council who was murdered in March. Mariela Castro, the daughter of former Cuban President Raúl Castro, directs CENESEX. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: A participant in an International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia march in Havana on May 12, 2018, that the National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX), organized holds a picture that reads, “Gyms free of homophobia.” Mariela Castro, the daughter of former Cuban President Raúl Castro, directs CENESEX. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: A girl records a portion of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia march in Havana on May 12, 2018, that the National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX) organized. Mariela Castro, the daughter of former Cuban President Raúl Castro, directs CENESEX. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: Spectators on a balcony watch the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia march in Havana on May 12, 2018, the National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX) organized. Mariela Castro, the daughter of former Cuban President Raúl Castro, directs CENESEX. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: A flyer at El Mejunje, an LGBT-friendly cultural center in Santa Clara, Cuba, advertises an upcoming LGBT beauty pageant. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: The U.S. Embassy in Havana in May 2017 displayed the Pride flag to commemorate the International Day Against Homophobia, and Biphobia, and Transphobia (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: Pride and transgender Pride flags fly at Playa Mi Cayito outside of Havana on May 14, 2018. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: A flyer at El Mejunje, an LGBT-friendly cultural center in Santa Clara, Cuba, advertises a high heel race as part of a series of events that commemorated the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: Participants in a march that commemorated the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia gather outside El Mejunje, an LGBT-friendly cultural center in Santa Clara, Cuba, on May 15, 2018. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: El Mejunje is an LGBT cultural center in Santa Clara, Cuba. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: Participants in a march that commemorated the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia gather outside El Mejunje, an LGBT-friendly cultural center in Santa Clara, Cuba, on May 15, 2018. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: A banner hanging in the window of a store in Pinar del Río, Cuba, on May 16, 2018, acknowledges the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: A performer takes part in an International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia march in Pinar del Río, Cuba, on May 17, 2018. IDAHOBiT marches that were scheduled to take place in Havana and Camagüey this month have been cancelled. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: A group of students await the start of an International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia march in Pinar del Río, Cuba, on May 17, 2018. The National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX), which Mariela Castro, the daughter of former Cuban President Raúl Castro directs, organized the march. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: Part of an International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia exhibit in Pinar del Río, Cuba, that the National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX) organized. Mariela Castro, the daughter of former Cuban President Raúl Castro, directs CENESEX. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: Mariela Castro, the daughter of former Cuban President Raúl Castro who directs the National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX), center, and CENESEX staffer Nomi Ramírez, left, talk about the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia on Cuban television on May 17, 2018. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: A woman uses her cell phone as she stands outside Teatro Milanés in Pinar del Río, Cuba, on May 17, 2018, during an International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia gala the National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX) organized. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: Michael Petrelis, a San Francisco-based LGBT rights activist, stands outside Teatro Milanés in Pinar del Río, Cuba, on May 17, 2018. He is currently in Cuba to distribute Pride flags to activists, organizations and LGBT Cubans across the country. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: Part of an International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia exhibit in Pinar del Río, Cuba, that the National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX) organized. Mariela Castro, the daughter of former Cuban President Raúl Castro, directs CENESEX. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: A man wears a rainbow flag around his body before a march commemorating the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia began in Havana on May 12, 2018. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: A woman takes part in a march to commemorate the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia in Havana on May 12, 2018. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

: A group of high school students take part in an International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia march in Pinar del Río, Cuba, on May 17, 2018. The National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX), which Mariela Castro, the daughter of former Cuban President Raúl Castro directs, organized the march. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

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