World
LGBTQ Cubans participate in July 11 protests
Community members took to the streets to demand their rights
HAVANA — Thousands of people took to the streets in Cuba on July 11 to demand, among other things, the government improve people’s quality of life and guarantee citizens’ rights.
The protests took place in cities throughout the country, but violence that had not been seen before broke out in some Havana neighborhoods. Protesters for the first time in Cuba with such magnitude overturned police cars, looted stores and threw stones at police officers.
Parts of the LGBTQ community joined the marches. They had particular reasons for protesting that were in addition to the protesters’ general demands.
“I came because I am tired of the repression that the police inflict upon trans people,” a transgender woman who was marching among thousands of people through Centro Havana told Tremenda Nota. “They don’t allow us to go out on the streets, they ask us for our ID cards, they take us in for prostitution.”
Adriana Díaz Martínez walked with other trans women. They chanted, along with the rest of the protesters, “freedom,” “Díaz-Canel must go” and “homeland and life.” This last slogan, one of the most popular in the protests, is the title of a song from artists Yotuel Romero, Descember Bueno, Maykel Osorbo, El Funky and Gente de Zona. It has in recent months become an anthem for those who oppose the government.
Analía Escalona, one of Adriana’s friends, cited the shortage of basic products as one of the reasons to protest.
“The first thing that has to be in a pharmacy is condoms in order to take care of yourself and not contract any sexually-transmitted infection, and there aren’t any,” said Analía.
Analía also mentioned police harassment of trans people as another reason to march.
“They bring us to police stations for no reason, they put us in ‘danger,’ families are working, bringing sacks to a prison without any need at the end,” she added.
When speaking of “danger,” she referred to the “dangerous state” provision of Cuban law that allows authorities to impose punishments against anyone who has not yet committed a crime.
“We are mistreated by the same police. It is bullying and abuse. Enough already,” stressed Chanel, another trans woman who participated in the march.
“I have a degree. I have a masters degree in cosmetology. There is no need to detain us, to put us in ‘danger’ without reason,” said Analía. “We are all not prostituting ourselves, damn it! Homeland and life!”
“I come in solidarity with everyone else who is here, because of hunger, necessity,” said Adriana. “There are no medications, there is no food. There is no water. There is nothing. Houses in Havana are collapsing and they are building hotels!”
The economic crisis in Cuba, which the COVID-19 pandemic and U.S. sanctions worsened, became extreme in 2020. Official sources say the economy has contracted by 11 percent.
The economic collapse is even worse for trans people. It remains difficult for these women to finish their studies or get a formal job in Cuba.
“We need workplaces for trans people, where we can go dressed as a woman,” said Adriana.
The Labor Code currently bans discrimination based on sexual orientation, but it does not afford the same protection to those who are fired because of their gender identity.
Tremenda Nota journalist Maykel González Vivero was detained during last Sunday’s protests and was transported to “El Vivac,” a provisional jail outside of Havana.
The reporter was held with two trans women. Both of them live in Arroyo Naranjo, a municipality in the outskirts of Havana, and participated in the protests in La Güinera, one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. Official media described the protests that happened there were among the most violent.
González Vivero told Tremenda Nota that the police from the start treated the trans women as men by addressing them by their legal name.
Both of them told the journalist that courts had previously sanctioned them and Cuban prison regulations ignore their gender identity. They cited, for example, the masculine hair cut they forced them to get.
Hungary
Charges against Budapest mayor for organizing Pride march dropped
Country’s new government took office last month
Hungarian authorities on Thursday dropped charges against Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony over his role in organizing the city’s 2025 Pride march.
Karácsony spoke at the event, even though then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government banned it.
More than 100,000 people defied the ban and participated in the march that took place on June 28, 2025. The Associated Press notes the Budapest Chief Prosecutor’s Office in January charged Karácsony with “organizing the unlawful assembly despite a prohibition order.”
Karácsony, who has been Budapest’s mayor since 2019, described himself as a “proud defendant” after his indictment.
“It seems that in this country, this is the price you pay if you stand up for your own freedom and the freedom of others,” he said in a statement, according to the AP. “If anyone thinks they can ban me, deter me, or prevent me and my city from doing so, they are gravely mistaken.”
Budapest is Hungary’s capital and largest city.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar took office last month after his center-right Tisza party ousted Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition in elections that took place on April 12.
Hungarian police on May 29 announced they will allow the Budapest Pride march to take place this year.
The European Union’s top court, the EU Court of Justice, days after Orbán’s ouster struck down Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ propaganda law that MPs approved in 2021. The BBC notes Hungarian authorities cited the decision in their decision to drop the charges against Karácsony.
Authorities in Pécs, a city near Hungary’s border with Croatia, have also dropped charges against Géza Buzás-Hábel, who organized a 2025 Pride event.
Hungary
Hungarian authorities lift Budapest Pride ban
Country’s new government took office last month
Hungarian police on May 29 announced they will allow the annual Budapest Pride march to take place.
“The Budapest Metropolitan Police has approved the 2026 Budapest Pride Parade and also has issued restrictive orders in relation to three counter-demonstrations,” a Budapest Metropolitan Police spokesperson told Politico.
Budapest is Hungary’s capital and largest city.
Hungarian lawmakers last year passed a bill that banned Pride events and allowed authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify participants. MPs later amended the Hungarian constitution to ban public LGBTQ events.
More than 100,000 people defied the ban and participated in last year’s Budapest Pride parade. The event became one of the largest protests against then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government since he took office in 2010.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar took office last month after his center-right Tisza party ousted Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition in elections that took place on April 12. The European Union’s top court, the EU Court of Justice, days after Orbán’s ouster struck down Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ propaganda law that MPs approved in 2021.
The EU on May 29 announced it will release more than €16 billion ($18.59 billion) in funds to Hungary that it withheld while Orbán was in office.
The Budapest Pride march will take place on June 27.
“We will march freely in fresh air for our rights, for the democratic Hungary,” said Budapest Pride on its Facebook page.
Colombia
Claudia López comes up short in Colombian presidential election
Former Bogotá mayor would have been country’s first lesbian head of government
Former Bogotá Mayor Claudia López on Sunday finished fifth in the first round of Colombia’s presidential election.
López, a centrist who ran as an independent, received 225,517 votes. This figure is .95 percent of the total votes cast.
López was the Colombian capital’s mayor from 2020-2023. She was a member of the Colombian Senate from 2014-2018. López, whose wife is outgoing Colombian Sen. Angélica Lozano, would have become the country’s first female and first lesbian president if she would have won the election.
The LGBTQ+ Victory Institute honored López in D.C. in 2024.
“We need to listen to each other again, we need to have a coffee with each other again, we need to touch each other’s skin,” she told the Washington Blade during an interview. She hadn’t yet declared her candidacy, and did not specifically discuss her plans to run.
Runoff to take place June 21
Abrelardo de la Espriella, a far-right lawyer who has praised U.S. President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, on Sunday finished first with 43.74 percent of the vote. Senator Iván Cepeda, a member of outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s Historic Pact party, came in second with 40.9 percent of the vote.
Neither men received a majority of votes. A runoff between them will take place on June 21.
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