Cuba holding referendum today to legalize same-sex marriage

Cuba is holding a referendum today to legalize same-sex marriage. This will redefine family rights.

According to foreign news agencies, eight million Cubans over the age of 16 are allowed to vote in today’s referendum.

The referendum is being held whether to allow same-sex marriage and surrogate pregnancies.

According to reports, if the referendum is approved, the Family Code, which has been in force since 1975, will end.

As per media reports some 79,000 neighborhood meetings, months of discussion were held and an outpouring of more than 300,000 suggestions from citizens were collected. Now Cubans are voting in a referendum that could redefine family rights — including legalizing same-sex marriage.

The proposed new Family Code would be among the most progressive in Latin America.

According to a foreign news agency, supporters call it a sign of the progress on LGBTQ+ issues under Cuba’s Communist government, which was once so hostile to gay men that it sent them to forced labor camps for “reeducation.”

A leading figure in transforming such homosexual attitudes was sexologist Mariela Castro, the daughter of Fidel Castro’s brother and fellow revolutionary, Raúl Castro foreign media reported.