HAVANNA – Cuba’s first daughter has said the country’s lawmakers will consider legalizing same-sex civil unions this year.
Pink News.co.uk reported that Mariela Castro, daughter of President Raul Castro and the director of the National Sex Education Centre told Cuba Si that the Cuban justice minister, Maria Esther Reus, announced that “… it is going to be discussed in the assembly, and is on the agenda for 2012.”
She added: “I am confident that the party conference will help explicitly define a policy that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, which in turn will help to dismantle prejudices that hinder its adoption.”
Sexual relations between same-sex consenting adults 16 and over have been legal in Cuba since 1979, and Cuban citizens can have sex reassignment surgery paid for by the government.
Cuba’s Communist Party will gather Jan. 28 for its first National Conference, where the legislative reform will be put to a vote.
