[NYTr] 1990s: Cuban education about same-sex love reached every home
 
Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 23:32:31 -0500 (CDT)


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Workers World - Jul 26, 2007 issue
http://www.workers.org/2007/world/lavender-red-106/

Lavende & red, part 106

1990s: Cuban education about same-sex love reached every home

By Leslie Feinberg

The revolutionary Cuban government, since the 1990s, has waged a
struggle against deep-rooted old prejudice about same-sex love in
virtually every cultural venue.

In 1998 a national television program opened a mass discussion about
lesbians and gays to immense audience interest. The topic was discussed
in communities for weeks afterwards. (Leonardo HechavarrC-a and Marcel
Hatch)

Librarian Larry R. Oberg wrote on his observations of homosexuality and
culture in Cuba. bBetween March 2000 and April 2002, I spent more than
four months in Cuba on four separate occasions, working as a librarian
on a range of research projects with my Cuban colleagues. Most of that
time was spent in Havana, but also in numerous other cities, including
Matanzas, Trinidad and Santiago de Cuba. As a gay man, I was motivated
to find out as much as I could about the status of Cubabs gay and
lesbian population.b

Oberg referred to the cross-dressing, cross-gender performances in the
neighborhood of La GC<inera, on the outskirts of the capital. bMany of
these drag shows are sponsored by the local CDRs (Committees for the
Defense of the Revolution),b Olberg reported, band play to large and
wildly enthusiastic audiences. (If youbre wondering, the performers
were great!)b

Oberg stressed, bOne of the most striking things about Cuba is the
vitality of its cultural and intellectual life throughout the island,
particularly in Havana. Gay themes are prevalent in the theatre, in
lectures, and in concerts.

bIn December, 2000, I attended a play entitled bMuerte en el Bosqueb (A
Death in the Woods), produced by the Teatro SC3tano in Havana bs Vedado
neighborhood. Based upon the acclaimed novel bMC!scarasb (Masks), by
Leonardo Padura Fuentes, the play follows a police investigation into
the murder of a Havana drag queen, a plot device that allows for an
examination of Cuban attitudes and prejudices towards gays at every
level of society.b (www.cubanlibrariessolidaritygroup.org.uk)

Oberg concluded, bA striking contradiction in Cuban society today is
the contrast between the rich cultural and intellectual life that is
widely available and easily affordable, and salaries that make the
purchase of a pair of shoes an event for which one must plan.b

He noted that Cubans could buy theater tickets for the equivalent of
about a nickel, first-run movies for about a dime, theatrical plays for
less than 50 cents, and musical extravaganzas and ballet festival
performances for half a buck.

The U.S. blockade of Cuba, aimed at strangling the economy, makes it
harder to buy a pair of shoes, let alone build socialism, which
requires material abundance and often imported materials.

Wall Street hopes that economic deprivation will turn up the pressure
cooker on internal relations, making it easier to wear down and
overturn the revolution that took the Cuban economy, labor, land and
resources off its list of neocolonial bassets.b

But the revolutionary government has continued to move forward on every
front possible to generate consciousness, including about same-sex love.

bWhile in Cuba, I spoke with scores of gays, mostly men, and
encountered none who said that their government was persecuting them,b
Oberg stated. He reiterated that no one with whom he spoke breported
active or systematic repression by the state.b (bThe Status of Gays in
Cuba: Myth and Reality,b March 20, 2006)

Art and consciousness

AIDS prevention is only possible with widespread safer-sex information
and a thoroughgoing struggle against sexual prejudices that allow the
disease to spread in the silence of shame, guilt and fear.
Revolutionary Cuban leadership brought the battle against AIDS and
sexual prejudicesbincluding bigoted attitudes about bisexualitybto the
small screen of popular television, as well as the big screens of
culture.

Last year the 115-chapter television series bLa Cara Oculta de la
Lunab (The Hidden Face of the Moon), had virtually all of Cuba buzzing
with debate.

bLa Carab deals with AIDS, youth sexuality, bisexuality and other
social issues. The series began with the story of a 14-year-old girl
who contracted AIDS during her first sexual experience.

As of November 2005, 5,422 Cubans were HIV-positive or had full-blown
AIDS.

bLa Cara,b wrote author Freddy DomC-nguez DC-az, was ba series on human
behavior, on peoplebs attitude of life, on everyonebs responsibility
for themselves and everybody else.b (Interview, Juventud Rebelde, Oct.
9, 2006; walterlippmann.com)

The series borrows from the popular style of television novellasbsoap
operas.

Marlon Brito LC3pez, a screenwriter and director, critiqued the
television novella bas a member of the audience and media expert.b He
wrote, bThe main goals were well defined: a warning of the dangers of
this pandemic disease, present also in our territory, which can infect
people in any group, race or creed; and a reflection on the elimination
of prejudice linked to HIV-AIDS and sex in our society, particularly
within the family.b

Brito LC3pez stated, bI believe art is so ambiguous and abstract it has
a latent effect on our consciousness, mainly when it reflects with
honesty and talent the society one lives in. This is precisely what
bThe Hidden Face of the Moonb is achieving.b

He continued, bAIDS statistics in the world increased alarmingly and in
our country; despite the excellent professional project and public
health plan to prevent infectious diseases, media campaigns on the
HIV-AIDS subject had shown little efficacy. It is here where we artists
must step in. Concerts and songs by Buena Fe [Cuban musical group], or
documentaries by my colleague Belkys Vega and others, were not enough
to reach our homes at prime time with an artistically effective
language, with affection and respect.b

Bringing education to every home

bLa Carab series director Rafael bCheC-tob GonzC!lez explained, bWhen we
deal with present-day stories, we try to be as close to reality as
possible. Everywhere in the world there are soaps for entertainment. We
try to discuss the social problems we have and therefore we deal with
topics such as these. I believe it is valid to face them with all
seriousness. In this soap there are some parallel stories aimed only at
entertaining the audience, but we cannot overlook the problems we have,
and these must be tackled with courage.

bWhat better way to do it than through a TV soap watched by the whole
country? Information on HIV is offered in TV spots, there is also a
specific TV program on AIDS, but these are not seen by everybody. The
soap, on the other hand, is watched in every home.b (La Jiribilla #260,
April 28, 2006)

CheC-to noted, bWe did a lot of research to pull out all the stops, as
popular speech has it, in approaching AIDS as a topic, that is,
seriously and with all due respect, since we canbt beat about the bush
if we want to send an effective message.b (Interview, Juventud Rebelde,
Oct. 9, 2006; walterlippmann.com)

Magda GonzC!lez, a television director who now directs the
Dramatizations Division for Cuban TV, also stressed, bWhen we decided
to take on this theme in this slot, we were convinced that it would
provoke all sorts of reactions. Theybre not themes that we usually deal
with in a dramatized form, even though over the past three years they
have been dealt with in a direct and open way by other programs like
bLetbs Talk about Healthb [a weekly program focusing on health matters]
and bItbs Worthwhileb [a weekly program in which a leading psychologist
discusses letter writersb problems].b

But as the AIDS epidemic continued, band because we consider we have a
socially responsible role to play to put television in the front line
of the Battle of Ideas, we decided that the dramatic format was an
ideal way to disseminate messages using the emotions and the viewerbs
identification with the human dramas. When writing the script and
producing the tele-serial we called upon experts from the Center for
Sexual Education and the National HIV-AIDS Prevention Center as
advisers and we believe it mirrors realistically aspects of our society.

bThe second theme incorporates a new element in teledramas,b she
continued, bthe treatment of sexual relations between men either as
homosexuals or bisexuals. Public reaction is divided. Some are
indignant that the theme is shown on screen, others applaud the
initiative, and still others say that these themes have to be aired but
not in this way.

bThat the first exists is only natural in people whose sexual attitudes
were formed by a Hispanic culture, heavily influenced by the Catholic
Church, where sex is a sin and homosexuality a crime. Hopefully the
telenovela will help them understand that to respect, recognize and
tolerate different lifestyles doesnbt turn them into accomplices of
what they believe to be evil, but that it makes them followers of the
concept given to us by our Comandante when he says that bThe Revolution
is about equality and full liberty, itbs about being treated by
everybody else as human beings.bb (La Jiribilla #260, April 29-May 5,
2006)

This is revolutionary process

No one, of any sexuality, was of one mind in Cuba about bLa Cara.b
However, those who brought the series to television screens did not shy
away from the debate. On the contrary, widespread public debate with
leadership was the whole point, and it has been eminently successful.

The Cuban health care system Web site bInfomedb garnered viewpoints
about the television novella. So did Cubabs National Center for Sex
Education (CENESEX). E-zine La Jiribilla devoted an entire issue to the
topic.

Journalist Ricardo Ronquillo concluded, bIt would be worrying if we
thought of ourselves as a wholly agreeing society with neither
competing arguments nor opposing positions in face of its most intimate
conflicts; or even worse, that silence prevailed.b

La Jornada correspondent Gerardo Arreola wrote, bThis discussion has
become the most relevant signs of public impact on the matter since the
motion picture bFresa y Chocolateb (bStrawberry and Chocolateb) shook
sectors of Cuban society in 1993 with its statement against intolerance
through the story of a homosexual character.b (May 8, 2006,
walterlippmann.com)

The Miami Herald, an unlikely source for any supportive news about
Cuba, reported in November 2006, bNow, as the show draws to an end,
Cuban gays and lesbians say the show is symbolic of the communist
islandbs government and people becoming more accepting towards
them.b (Advocate.com, Nov. 8, 2006)

It is this process of popular education with leadership, in which
consciousness is raised through mass participation, discussion and
debate, that is the revolution and the bunfettered thoughtb it
liberatesbnot overnight, but with ongoing labor, without which nothing
is produced.

CENESEX continues to be at the forefront of that important work,
including backing the television novella that sparked such controversy.

Next: Mariela EspC-n Castro talks about work still to be done in Cuba.

To find out more about Cuba, read parts 86-105 of Lavender & Red at
workers.org.

Articles copyright 1995-2007 Workers World. Verbatim copying and
distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without
royalty provided this notice is preserved.

Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
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