More than 3.9 million Cubans have voted to approve a “family law code” that will allow gay couples to marry and adopt children in an unusual referendum on Sunday.
Significant opposition to the reforms came from religious groups and conservatives, but it received heavy backing from the Cuban government, which ran a nationwide campaign urging people to approve the code, which will now allow surrogate pregnancies and give greater rights to non-biological parents.
About two-thirds of the population voted to approve the code which was contained in a 100-page document that went through more than two dozen drafts and hours of debate in community-level meetings. Same-sex marriage will be legal in Cuba starting on September 30, 2022.
Cuban communist leaders applauded the result of the nationwide referendum, although Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel admitted that the code, “still has issues that our society as a whole does not understand.”
The government sought to include same-sex marriage in the country’s new constitution in 2019 but backed down after criticism from the church. The official attitude toward homosexuality has changed significantly over the last twenty years. The Cuban government published the draft of the new Family Code in September 2021. Article 61 of the draft code states that marriage is “the consensual union between two people” without specifying the sex of the couple. Parents are no longer defined by their sex, and so parental right is now granted to couples who use the various forms of assisted reproductive technology.
The new family code was touted as providing greater protection to women, children and the elderly. Commentators feel the referendum is part of Cuba’s push to improve its human rights image. Mariela Castro, the daughter of former Cuban president Raul Castro, has openly advocated for improved rights for gays, lesbians and transgender people. Conservative and Christians support the biblical definition of family as the union between a man and a woman.
Voting, took place on Sunday and the results were available on Monday as the US National Hurricane Center warned that Hurricane Ian had the potential to devastate western Cuba. Life-threatening storm surge,” strong winds, flash floods, and possible mudslides were predicted.