CUBA: Familiarity Breeds Tolerance for Sexual Diversity, Specialists Hope
Dalia Acosta


HAVANA, Oct 12 (IPS) - They were born men, but they rarely refer to themselves as such. They are Cuba's transvestites and transsexuals, who are increasingly determined to defend their right to be themselves when they leave the refuge of their homes dressed as women.

In their own neighbourhoods, they are usually well-known and largely accepted, but the real world starts when they venture out into the rest of the city. Nevertheless, very few say they have been the targets of physical violence or any other direct attacks in public places.

In Cuba, murders of gays, transvestites or transsexuals are almost unheard of, unlike many other parts of the world.

An alarming example is Brazil, where the murders of 132 homosexuals were reported in 2001 alone, and 41 of the victims were transvestites.


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GAYS LIKE COCKROACHES CARDINAL SAYS
Associated Press


MEXICO CITY (AP) - A prominent Mexican cardinal denounced legalization of same-sex weddings in an interview published Tuesday, saying it would be like considering cats or cockroaches part of a family.

Javier Lozano Barragan complained that defenders of same-sex marriage argue that people living together constitute a family, according to the newspaper Reforma.