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Mariela Castro reafirma apoyo del matrimonio igualitario en Cuba

Referéndum sobre la nueva constitución se espera realizarse en 2019

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Mariela Castro, gay news, Washington Blade

Mariela Castro, la hija del expresidente cubano, habla durante una conferencia de prensa en La Habana el 3 de mayo de 2017. Mariela Castro la semana pasada reafirmó su apoyo por el matrimonio igualitario en Cuba durante una entrevista con BBC en Londres. (Foto de Washington Blade por Michael K. Lavers)

La hija del expresidente cubano Raúl Castro el 29 de noviembre reafirma su apoyo de los esfuerzos para extender los derechos matrimoniales a las parejas del mismo sexo en el país.

“Este cambio es muy importante porque es una voluntad política del estado y del gobierno cubano de avanzar la agenda de derechos humanos y de extenderlo a tantas áreas como sea posible”, Mariela Castro dijo al BBC durante una entrevista en Londres, hablando a través de un intérprete.

Mariela Castro es miembro de la Asamblea Nacional de Cuba y directora del Centro Nacional de Educación Sexual, promueve los temas LGBTI en la isla.

La Asamblea Nacional en las próximas semanas se espera finalizar el borrador de la propuesta constitución nueva que incluye una enmienda del matrimonio entre parejas del mismo sexo. Un referéndum se espera realizarse el 24 de febrero de 2019.

“La sociedad cubana está demostrado que sigue siendo una sociedad en revolución”, dijo Mariela Castro.

Mariela Castro rechaza críticas sobre DDHH en Cuba

La revolución cubana en 1959 derrocó el entonces presidente Fulgencio Batista. Hombres gay estaban entre aquellos que fueron enviados a campos de trabajo — conocidos como Unidades Militares de Ayuda a la Producción o UMAPs — durante los años después de la revolución.

“Cuba pertenecía al mundo y todos los países en la tierra eran homofóbicos”, Mariela Castro dijo al BBC en respuesta a una pregunta sobre la discriminación y la persecución contra la comunidad LGBTI en Cuba que se realizaron después de su tío tomó el poder. “No fue que necesariamente hubo persecución contra los homosexuales. Es solo que la homosexualidad no fue entendida. No era que hubiera leyes que penalizaban a las personas, sino que había formas de limitar a las personas homosexuales o transgénero”.

“Esto ha ido cambiando gracias a la revolución”, ella añadió.

Fidel Castro en 2010 se disculpó por las UMAPs durante una entrevista con un periódico mexicano.

Partidarios de Mariela Castro, entre otras cosas, notan Cuba ahora ofrece por gratis las cirugías de asignación de sexo por su sistema de salud nacional. El presidente Miguel Díaz-Canel, que fue nombrado de suceder a Raúl Castro al principio de este año, en septiembre dijo durante una entrevista con Telesur, una estación de televisión en gran parte financiado por el gobierno venezolano, que apoya el matrimonio entre parejas del mismo sexo.

Activistas y periodistas independientes en Cuba han dicho al Washington Blade que enfrentan el maltrato e incluso arresto si critican públicamente a Mariela Castro y/o al gobierno cubano.

El reportero de BBC que entrevistó a Mariela Castro describió Cuba como “un lugar muy poco libre” cuando preguntó a ella sobre el récord general de derechos humanos del país. Mariela Castro en respuesta a la pregunta equiparó el colonialismo español y la política estadounidense hacía la isla, que incluye un bloqueo económico, como abusos de los derechos humanos en contra de su país.

“La revolución ha triunfado”, ella dijo. “Se centra en el ser humano como su objetivo principal, no en el interés de la clase dirigente”.

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Photos

PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards

Gay Men’s Chorus, local drag artists have featured performance at ceremony

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Members of the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington as well as local drag artists joined hosts Mike Millan and Felicia Curry with other performers for a WorldPride dance number at the Helen Hayes Awards on Monday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The 41st Helen Hayes Awards were held at The Anthem on Monday, May 19. Felicia Curry and Mike Millan served as the hosts.

A performance featuring members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington and local drag artists was held at the end of the first act of the program to celebrate WorldPride 2025.

The annual awards ceremony honors achievement in D.C.-area theater productions and is produced by Theatre Washington.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

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District of Columbia

Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals

Three LGBTQ icons to lead parade

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Deacon Maccubbin attends the 2024 Capital Pride Parade. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

WorldPride organizers announced Thursday that actress and trans activist Laverne Cox, powerhouse performer Reneé Rapp, and LGBTQ trailblazer Deacon Maccubbin will serve as grand marshals for this year’s WorldPride parade.

The Capital Pride Alliance, which is organizing WorldPride 2025 in Washington, D.C., revealed the honorees in a press release, noting that each has made a unique contribution to the fabric of the LGBTQ community.

Laverne Cox (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Cox made history in 2014 as the first openly transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category for her role in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.” She went on to win a Daytime Emmy in 2015 for her documentary “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,” which followed seven young trans people as they navigated coming out.

Rapp, a singer and actress who identifies as a lesbian, rose to prominence as Regina George in the Broadway musical “Mean Girls.” She reprised the role in the 2024 film adaptation and also stars in Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” portraying a character coming to terms with her sexuality. Rapp has released an EP, “Everything to Everyone,” and an album, “Snow Angel.” She announced her sophomore album, “Bite Me,” on May 21 and is slated to perform at the WorldPride Music Festival at the RFK Festival Grounds.

Deacon Maccubbin, widely regarded as a cornerstone of Washington’s LGBTQ+ history, helped organize D.C.’s first Gay Pride Party in 1975. The event took place outside Lambda Rising, one of the first LGBTQ bookstores in the nation, which Maccubbin founded. For his decades of advocacy and activism, he is often referred to as “the patriarch of D.C. Pride.”

“I am so honored to serve as one of the grand marshals for WorldPride this year. This has been one of the most difficult times in recent history for queer and trans people globally,” Cox said. “But in the face of all the rhetorical, legislative and physical attacks, we continue to have the courage to embrace who we truly are, to celebrate our beauty, resilience and bravery as a community. We refuse to allow fear to keep us from ourselves and each other. We remain out loud and proud.”

“Pride is everything. It is protection, it is visibility, it is intersectional. But most importantly, it is a celebration of existence and protest,” Rapp said.

The three will march down 14th Street for the WorldPride Parade in Washington on June 7.

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Congress

House passes reconciliation with gender-affirming care funding ban

‘Big Beautiful Bill’ now heads to the Senate

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U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael. Key)

The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday voted 215-214 for passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” reconciliation package, which includes provisions that would prohibit the use of federal funds to support gender-affirming care.

But for an 11th hour revision of the bill late Wednesday night by conservative lawmakers, Medicaid and CHIP would have been restricted only from covering treatments and interventions administered to patients younger than 18.

The legislation would also drop requirements that some health insurers must cover gender-affirming care as an “essential health benefit” and force states that currently mandate such coverage to find it independently. Plans could still offer coverage for transgender care but without the EHB classification patients will likely pay higher out of pocket costs.

To offset the cost of extending tax cuts from 2017 that disproportionately benefited the wealthiest Americans, the reconciliation bill contains significant cuts to spending for federal programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The Human Rights Campaign criticized House Republicans in a press release and statement by the group’s president, Kelley Robinson:

“People in this country want policies and solutions that make life better and expand access to the American Dream. Instead, anti-equality lawmakers voted to give  handouts to billionaires built on the backs of hardworking people — with devastating consequences for the LGBTQ+ community.

“If the cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP or resources like Planned Parenthood clinics weren’t devastating enough, House Republicans added a last minute provision that expands its attacks on access to best practice health care to transgender adults.

“This cruel addition shows their priorities have never been about lowering costs or expanding health care access–but in targeting people simply for who they are. These lawmakers have abandoned their constituents, and as they head back to their districts, know this: they will hear from us.”

Senate Republicans are expected to pass the bill with the budget reconciliation process, which would allow them to bypass the filibuster and clear the spending package with a simple majority vote.

Changes are expected as the bill will be reviewed and amended by committees, particularly the Finance Committee, and then brought to the floor for debate — though modifications are expected to focus on Medicaid reductions and debate over state and local tax deductions.

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