Gay Guide Caribbean - Cuba

The Cuban age of consent for all is 16 years. However, Article 303 of the Criminal Code states that the public display of homosexuality is punishable by law. Therefore, we suggest that you be discreet in public when being about with locals. This is particularly recommended in the streets of Havana and on the beach of Santa Maria, where police patrols are increasingly present. Mariela Castro, director of the National Centre for Sexual Education and daughter of Raúl Castro, is a prominent advocate of LGBT rights. In June 2008, the above-mentioned centre, together with the Ministry of Health, reached an amendment to the law enabling eligible persons to undergo free sex change surgery. After the Cuban president announced in September 2018 that he would support gay marriage, Mariela Castro and the National Assembly made it clear in November that gay marriage would be introduced through a constitutional amendment. The government began negotiations in March 2019. What some see as a political instrument of the regime, however, has undeniable positive consequences: In just a few decades, Cuba has come a long way from total oppression and prosecution of homosexuals. In 2008, a Pride event was terminated by the police. On the international day against homophobia and transphobia, a whole Pride week even took place in Havana in May 2013 - and has taken place ever year since then. Havana is the largest metropolis in the Caribbean and is home to a small, but growing gay scene, as well as is the provincial capital Santa Clara.