Changes in Cuba: Gay rights gets new push as U.S. approves more travel

Cuban gay rights activists led by Mariela Castro, the daughter of President Raul Castro, plan a mass symbolic wedding on Saturday to promote acceptance of gay and transgender Cubans in a country once notoriously hostile toward them. The ceremony will be part of an annual gay pride parade and will be symbolic because same-sex marriage is illegal in Cuba. The participating Cuban religious leaders will be evangelical Christians, Castro said. Cuba’s one-party political system traditionally operates on consensus, which Castro said was one reason lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Cubans still lack full legal rights.

There is a fear that this will tear Cuban society apart. But it will create cultural and ideological enrichment.

Mariela Castro

Meanwhile, the United States authorized commercial ferry services to Cuba for the first time in more than a half-century on Tuesday, another major step in improving relations between the two countries. The move potentially opens a new path for the hundreds of thousands of people and hundreds of millions of dollars in consumer goods that travel between Florida and Havana each year.

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