Government policies created a climate that made homoerotic sociability difficult, but despite the hostility toward them, gay men and lesbians struggled to find creative ways to meet, build informal social networks, and express their sexuality, albeit discreetly.

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Although reforms in the penal code in the 1970s eliminated references to homosexuality as a criminal offense, this act has not been sufficient to establish respect and equality for Cuban gay men and lesbians. Among those Cubans who have emigrated from the island, including many in the Marielita exodus of 1980, have been many gay men and lesbians who were denied social space within the country. Others have been enticed by economic possibilities abroad.

To date, the only Cuban homosexual organization that has formed on the island is ONE, Organización Nacional de Entendidos, or National Organization of Gay People. It operated entirely underground between 1996 and 2001, and then disbanded. Founded by Adolfo del Pino, ONE developed out of the need for homosexuals in general, and writers in particular, to have a social space where they could exchange ideas. The group published Hola Gente (Hi Folks), a magazine that was printed on a computer three times a year, with one or two copies of each edition circulating among its readers.

Contemporary Cuba

In contemporary Cuba, one cannot speak of a gay community. One can, however, speak of a homoerotic environment for meeting and socializing in Havana that is constantly moving and reshaping itself. Ironically, the most frequented location is an area of the city known as Vedado, which is where a similar social life thrived during the colonial period and the first half of the twentieth century.

In the 1990s, a more liberal attitude on the part of the state tolerated overt manifestations of homosexual socializing. During these years, gay men and lesbians could meet openly in bars and discos that featured drag shows. However, at the end of the decade the government cracked down on such places, driving drag shows to underground meeting places.

In 2003, the Minister of Domestic Commerce issued Resolution Number 2, which redefined nocturnal recreation sites and turned many of the city's most popular discos into vegetarian restaurants. Under the pretext of controlling illicit drug use, many spaces occupied by homosexuals have been eliminated. Weekend socializing has been reduced to congregating in front of the Yara movie theater under the eyes of the police and participating in semi-secret parties in out-of-the-way places.

Within the homoerotic world, Cuban transvestites suffer the most social discrimination. Although there is no law that prohibits cross-dressing, transvestites are constantly harassed by authorities on the street and are not allowed to work in state-run enterprises. Several years ago, the National Center for Sex Education issued letters for people diagnosed as that, to a certain extent, protected some transvestites. However, people began to copy and forge these letters, and soon thereafter the police ignored their validity.

Humanistic ethics are embedded in the ideals of the Cuban Revolution, and the country's Constitution prohibits discrimination based on ethnicity, sex, and age. These values should logically extend to gay men, lesbians, and people to protect them from discrimination by public institutions and within the family. Unfortunately, they do not.

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