Mariela Castro Espín (born 27 July 1962) is the director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education in Havana, as well as the National Commission for Comprehensive Attention to Transsexual People, and an activist for

LGBT rights in Cuba Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in Cuba significantly advanced in the 21st century. Following the 2022 Cuban Family Code referendum, there is legal recognition of the right to marriage, unions between people of the same sex, sam ...

. Castro is an outspoken advocate for the LGBT+ community as well as dissolving some of the antiquated stigmas and stereotypes that surround the community. She is the daughter of former Communist Party First Secretary

Raúl Castro Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz (; ; born 3 June 1931) is a retired Cuban politician and general who served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the one-party communist state, from 2011 to 2021, succeedi ...

and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and revolutionary

Vilma Espín Vilma Lucila Espín Guillois (7 April 1930 – 18 June 2007) was a Cuban revolutionary, feminist, and chemical engineer. She helped supply and organize the 26th of July Movement as an underground spy, and took an active role in many branches ...

, and the niece of former First Secretary

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

Early life

Mariela Castro is the daughter of former Communist Party First Secretary

and feminist and revolutionary

, and the niece of former First Secretary and prominent Cuban revolutionary

. She has a brother, Alejandro Castro Espín. Castro states that as a child, she grew up in a homophobic society where members of the LGBT+ community were targeted relentlessly in terms of both law and policy and societal standards and traditional expectations. Castro stated later in life that she and her peers would “laugh at gays, make fun of them”. After speaking with some of her friends in the LGBT+ community, however, she gained a newfound awareness of the issues they face. Castro studied

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...

and

child psychology Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development ...

Career

Castro has published 13 scholarly articles and nine books. On September 26, 2019, it was revealed that the administration of President of the United States, Donald Trump, issued a travel ban on Cuban leader Raúl Castro and his children as a result of Castro’s support for Venezuela, spearheaded by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. United States Secretary of State

Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served under President Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2017 to 2018 and as the 70th United State ...

stated that “

aul An aul (; ce, oil; russian: аул) is a type of fortified village or town found throughout the Caucasus mountains and Soviet Central Asia, Central Asia. The word itself is of Turkic origin and simply means ''village'' in many Turkic language ...

Castro is responsible for Cuba’s actions to prop up the former Maduro regime in Venezuela through violence, intimidation and repression.”

Cuban National Center for Sex Education

Castro is the director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education, or CENESEX, which promotes safe sex and healthy attitudes towards sexuality. She modeled CENESEX after the

Federation of Cuban Women The Federation of Cuban Women ( es, italic=no, Federación de Mujeres Cubanas) (FMC) was established in 1960 under the revolutionary government with Vilma Espín as its president. Espin fought in the Sierra Maestras with Fidel Castro and Raul Cas ...

, which was established by her mother in 1960. The Federation of Cuban Women, along with other organizations at the time, was created as a result of women and other members of marginalized groups expressing their readiness to be involved in social change. One of their major efforts included a proposal for a change to the government family code that defined marriage as a union between two people, regardless of gender. Castro once stated in an interview that the federation "spearheaded efforts to confront machismo in many arenas." After the Federation was established, the public, economic, and social position of women in Cuba at the time rose dramatically - employment and equal pay opportunities for women arose, as well as maternity leave and the concept of social security for women. In 1996, along with the Cuban Ministries of Education (MINED), the Cuban National Center for Sex Education created a National Sex Education Program for Cuban schools to teach children about

sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...

in terms of procreation and as a means of pleasure and holistic well-being, gender equality, sexual violence, and sexually transmitted infections. Castro’s work and research with CENESEX, as well as various organizations that are centered on the research about and the lowering of stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS, has led to immense positive changes in the sexual health in Cuba as a whole. Cuba has one of the lowest HIV infection rates. In addition, those with the virus have access to free

antiretroviral drugs The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs as a strategy to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of multipl ...

through the country’s health system. She is also president of the Cuban Multidisciplinary Centre for the Study of Sexuality, president of the National Commission for Treatment of Disturbances of Gender Identity, member of the Direct Action Group for Preventing, Confronting, and Combatting AIDS, an executive member of the

World Association for Sexual Health The World Association for Sexual Health (WAS) is an international umbrella organization representing sexological societies and sexologists worldwide. Founded in 1978 in Rome, Italy, the WAS main goal is to promote sexual health for all through se ...

(WAS), and the director of the journal '' Sexología y Sociedad'', a magazine of Sexology edited by CENESEX. In 2008, the CENESEX and the National Commission for Comprehensive Attention to Transsexual People established May as an awareness month about LGBT issues, specifically homophobia and transphobia. The month of May is turned into a month of awareness as well as festive activities centered around and planned by members of the LGBT+ community, and is centered around the annual International Day Against Homophobia on May 17. The National Commission for Comprehensive Attention to Transsexual People campaigns for effective

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

prevention as well as recognition and acceptance of LGBT human rights.

LGBT rights

In 2004, Castro met with a group of

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

people that sought assistance from her. In 2005, Castro proposed a project to allow transgender people to receive

sex reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and alle ...

and change their legal gender. The measure became law in June 2008 which allows sex change surgery for Cubans without charge. Since the project proposal became law, the National Commission for Comprehensive Attention to Transsexual People has attended to more than 120 applications and has performed nearly a dozen surgeries. Castro is a sitting member of the

National Assembly of People's Power The National Assembly of People's Power ( es, Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular) is the unicameral parliament of the Republic of Cuba. It is currently composed of 605 representatives who are elected from multi-member electoral districts for a ...

. When the assembly voted in 2014 to ban

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, Castro opposed the legislation because it did not also include protection on the basis of

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...

, and became the first legislator in the body's history ever to vote against a piece of legislation. On May 5, 2013, Castro traveled to Philadelphia in order to accept an award from Equality Forum, a nonprofit organization centered on awareness for the LGBT+ community, for her work with her organizations that spread awareness about the issues that those in the LGBT+ community face. The leader and founder of the group, Malcom Lazin, stated that “She is truly an international hero for LGBT equality” and that she has made “remarkable changes for LGBT Cubans.” In May 2018 at a press conference, Castro announced that she would push for same-sex marriage to be included in a constitutional reform beginning in July. Castro also stated the need for tougher sanctions for anti-LGBT+ discrimination and violence. In 2019, a yearly march against homophobia and transphobia was cancelled by Castro due to regional tensions, which the Miami Herald reported as being "to avoid confrontations with Christian groups."

Personal life

As of 2000, according to a former assistant of Raúl Castro, Mariela Castro was married to an Italian man and had two children with him, and one child from a previous marriage.

References

General references

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