News
¿Quién es Juan García Rodríguez, el nuevo cardenal cubano, y qué piensa de la comunidad LGBTI+?
El arzobispo de La Habana no ha hecho declaraciones sobre los derechos LGBTI+


Nota del editor: Tremenda Nota es el medio socio del Washington Blade en Cuba. Esta nota salió originalmente en su sitio web el 1 de septiembre de 2019.
El papa Francisco anunció este domingo en la plaza de San Pedro que próximamente se crearán 13 cardenales y uno de ellos será el cubano Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez, arzobispo de San Cristóbal de La Habana desde 2016.
El nuevo cardenal tiene 71 años y nació en Camagüey, sede arzobispal que desempeñó como titular desde 2002, antes de sustituir a Jaime Ortega Alamino en el arzobispado habanero.
García Rodríguez se contará por su edad entre los más de 100 cardenales menores de 80 años que participarían en un cónclave para la elección de otro papa si fuera necesario.
Tres años atrás, cuando sustituyó a Ortega, el arzobispo dijo a la prensa que esperaba aumentar los diálogos con el gobierno cubano y contribuir así a que la iglesia católica participara en la educación y los medios de comunicación, además de tener más acceso a las prisiones.
Al menos en los primeros años de su episcopado no ha conseguido cumplir estas aspiraciones, aunque García Rodríguez mantiene la posición amigable de su predecesor hacia la política cubana que controla el Partido Comunista de Cuba con exclusión de otros grupos.
El pasado mes de julio, por citar un ejemplo de cautela en su relación con el gobierno, el arzobispado de La Habana prefirió no pronunciarse sobre las acciones de las autoridades para impedir que laicos católicos y periodistas independientes participaran en los funerales del cardenal Ortega.
Jaime Ortega Alamino, a quien los medios llamaron “el cardenal del deshielo” por su papel mediador en el acercamiento que tuvieron los gobiernos de Cuba y Estados Unidos en 2014, calificó de “antiguos delincuentes, sin nivel cultural, algunos con trastornos psicológicos” a un grupo de disidentes que ocuparon un templo y fueron desalojados por la policía, a solicitud del prelado, días antes de la visita de Benedicto XVI a la Isla en 2012.
Ortega también había negado, en declaraciones realizadas en 2015, que existieran presos políticos en Cuba.
García Hernández, en cambio, ha evitado declararse sobre estos temas en los últimos años.
“Por su discreción y centrismo, es la persona menos comprometida en las luchas intestinas de la Iglesia cubana”, dijo el intelectual laico Lenier González Mederos al periodista Mario J. Pentón en los días que tomó posesión el actual arzobispo.
García Hernández tampoco se pronunció el año pasado sobre la polémica alrededor del matrimonio igualitario que sí generó declaraciones de varios colegas suyos como Dionisio García Ibáñez, arzobispo de Santiago de Cuba, para rechazar el matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo/género y atribuírselo al “imperialismo cultural”, o Wilfredo Pino Estévez, arzobispo de Camagüey, a favor de implementar una unión civil para parejas LGBTI+.
El nuevo cardenal sí figura entre los firmantes de un mensaje publicado por los obispos cubanos acerca del proyecto de Constitución que presentó el parlamento en 2018. En el documento se criticó la intención de definir el matrimonio como “la unión de dos personas” y se calificó este concepto de “mal fundado y erróneo”.
Los obispos aseguraron en el texto que no deseaban “menospreciar la dignidad de ninguna persona” y que su posición a favor del matrimonio tradicional “no significa[ba] discriminación”.
Finalmente, el parlamento modificó la redacción del artículo y optó por una redacción más técnica y neutra que fue rechazada por gran parte de la comunidad LGBTI+, incluso entre los grupos favorables al discurso oficial.
Durante los debates populares previos al referéndum de la actual Carta Magna cubana, la diputada Mariela Castro Espín, directora del Centro Nacional de Educación Sexual (Cenesex) y activista por los derechos LGBTI+, dijo a la prensa del País Vasco: “Fundamentalistas religiosos están tratando de ‘chantajear al Gobierno cubano con que no van a votar a favor de la Constitución si se deja el artículo relativo al matrimonio entre dos personas'”.
Castro Espín parecía referirse a las iglesias protestantes que dirigieron varias cartas públicas a la Plaza de la Revolución contra el matrimonio igualitario.
No hay evidencias de que la Iglesia Católica haya intentado influir sobre la redacción final del artículo relacionado con el matrimonio, aunque es probable que sostuviera conversaciones con el gobierno cubano sobre el tema, si se toman en cuenta los antecedentes de mediación política que desempeñó el arzobispado de La Habana en la persona de Jaime Ortega.
El nombramiento de un nuevo cardenal con sede en La Habana, anunciado solo a un mes de la muerte de Ortega, también expresa la voluntad que tiene El Vaticano de mantener su influencia en futuros diálogos con el gobierno cubano.
Israel
Tel Aviv Pride parade cancelled after Israel attacks Iran
Caitlyn Jenner was to have been guest of honor

Tel Aviv authorities on Friday cancelled the city’s Pride parade after Israel launched airstrikes against Iran.
The Associated Press notes the Israeli airstrikes targeted nuclear and military facilities in Iran. Reports indicate the airstrikes killed two top nuclear scientists and the leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Iran in response to the airstrikes launched more than 100 drones towards Israel. The Israel Defense Forces said it intercepted them.
The Tel Aviv Pride parade had been scheduled to take place on Friday. Caitlyn Jenner was to have been the event’s guest of honor.
Authorities, in consultation with local LGBTQ activists, last year cancelled the Tel Aviv Pride parade out of respect for the hostages who remained in the Gaza Strip after Oct. 7. Jerusalem’s annual Pride parade took place on June 5.
District of Columbia
Drag queens protest Trump at the Kennedy Center
President attended ‘Les Misérables’ opening night on Wednesday

On Wednesday night, four local drag performers attended the first night of the Kennedy Center’s season in full drag — while President Donald Trump, an outspoken critic of drag, sat mere feet away.
Three queens — Tara Hoot, Vagenesis, and Mari Con Carne — joined drag king Ricky Rosé to represent Qommittee, a volunteer network uniting drag artists to support and defend each other amid growing conservative attacks. They all sat down with the Washington Blade to discuss the event.
The drag performers were there to see the opening performance of “Les Misérables” since Trump’s takeover of the historically non-partisan Kennedy Center. The story shows the power of love, compassion, and redemption in the face of social injustice, poverty, and oppression, set in late 19th century France.
Dressed in full drag, the group walked into the theater together, fully aware they could be punished for doing so.
“It was a little scary walking in because we don’t know what we’re going to walk into, but it was really helpful to be able to walk in with friends,” said drag queen Vagenesis. “The strongest response we received was from the staff who worked there. They were so excited and grateful to see us there. Over and over and over again, we heard ‘Thank you so much for being here,’ ‘Thank you for coming,’ from the Kennedy Center staff.”
The staff weren’t the only ones who seemed happy at the act of defiance.
“We walked in together so we would have an opportunity to get a response,” said Tara Hoot, who has performed at the Kennedy Center in full drag before. “It was all applause, cheers, and whistles, and remarkably it was half empty. I think that was season ticket holders kind of making their message in a different way.”
Despite the love from the audience and staff, Mari Con Carne said she couldn’t help feeling unsettled when Trump walked in.
“I felt two things — disgust and frustration,” Carne said. “Obviously, I don’t align with anything the man has to say or has to do. And the frustration came because I wanted to do more than just sit there. I wanted to walk up to him and speak my truth — and speak for the voices that were being hurt by his actions right now.”
They weren’t the only ones who felt this way according to Vagenesis:
“Somebody shouted ‘Fuck Trump’ from the rafters. I’d like to think that our being there encouraged people to want to express themselves.”
The group showing up in drag and expressing themselves was, they all agreed, an act of defiance.
“Drag has always been a protest, and it always will be a sort of resistance,” Carne said, after pointing out her intersectional identity as “queer, brown, Mexican immigrant” makes her existence that much more powerful as a statement. “My identity, my art, my existence — to be a protest.”
Hoot, who is known for her drag story times, explained that protesting can look different than the traditional holding up signs and marching for some.
“Sometimes protesting is just us taking up space as drag artists,” Hoot added. “I felt like being true to who you are — it was an opportunity to live the message.”
And that message, Ricky Rosé pointed out, was ingrained with the institution of the Kennedy Center and art itself — it couldn’t be taken away, regardless of executive orders and drag bans
“The Kennedy Center was founded more than 50 years ago as a place meant to celebrate the arts in its truest, extraordinary form,” said Ricky Rosé. “President Kennedy himself even argued that culture has a great practical value in an age of conflict. He was quoted saying, ‘the encouragement of art is political in the most profound sense, not as a weapon in the struggle, but as an instrument of understanding the futility of struggle’ and I believe that is the basis of what the Kennedy Center was founded on, and should continue. And drag fits perfectly within it.”
All four drag performers told the Washington Blade — independently of one another — that they don’t think Trump truly understood the musical he was watching.
“I don’t think the president understands any kind of plot that’s laid out in front of him,” Vagenesis said. “I’m interested to see what he thinks about “Les Mis,” a play about revolution against an oppressive regime. I get the feeling that he identifies with the the rebellion side of it, instead of the oppressor. I just feel like he doesn’t get it. I feel it goes right over his head.”
“Les Misérables” is running at the Kennedy Center until July 13.
Congress
Padilla forcibly removed from federal building for questioning DHS secretary
Prominent Democrats rushed to defend senator

Democratic U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla of California was forcibly removed from a federal building in Los Angeles after attempting to ask questions of U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a press conference on immigration Thursday
The city has been rattled in recent days as protestors objecting to the Trump-Vance administration’s immigration crackdowns clashed with law enforcement and then the president deployed National Guard troops and U.S. Marines, which was seen as a dramatic escalation.
According to a video shared by his office, the senator, who serves as ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, introduced himself and said, I have questions for the secretary.” After he was pushed out of the room, officers with FBI-identifying vests told Padilla to put his hands behind his back and handcuffed him.
“Senator Padilla is currently in Los Angeles exercising his duty to perform Congressional oversight of the federal government’s operations in Los Angeles and across California,” reads a statement from his office.
“He was in the federal building to receive a briefing with General Guillot and was listening to Secretary Noem’s press conference,” the statement continued. “He tried to ask the secretary a question, and was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground and handcuffed. He is not currently detained, and we are working to get additional information.”
Democrats were furious, with many releasing strong statements online condemning the actions of law enforcement officers, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D), and the state’s other U.S. senator, Adam Schiff (D).
Human Rights Campaign Chief of Staff Jay Brown also issued a statement: “A sitting U.S. senator should be allowed to ask a Cabinet secretary a question at a press conference — in his own state, on an issue affecting his constituents — without being violently thrown to the floor and handcuffed. Everyone who cares about our country must condemn this undemocratic act. Full stop.”