Castro Daughter Says Cuba Communists Exclude Gays

Castro Daughter Says Cuba Communists Exclude Gays
By REUTERS
Published: January 19, 2010

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Raul Castro's daughter accused the
ruling Communist Party on Tuesday of discrimination against gays and
said she will write a letter to its "top leadership" demanding that it end.

Her uncle, Fidel Castro, heads the party, while her father is No. 2.

Mariela Castro, a sexologist who advocates for gay rights, said the
party excludes gays who want to become members.

"It is not spelled out in any statute, but implicitly they are
rejected," she told reporters at the opening of a conference on sex
education and therapy.

"Your ideological and party definition have nothing to do with your
sexual orientation," said Castro, who is head of Cuba's National Centre
of Sex Education. "It's absurd, it's laughable."

She said her letter -- to be sent "as soon as possible" -- would demand
that a no-discrimination policy be clearly spelled out in party bylaws.

Fidel Castro, 83, ceded the presidency to his brother Raul, 78, two
years ago, but still officially heads the Communist Party.

The Cuban government, which Fidel Castro led for 49 years after taking
power in a 1959 revolution, once sent gays to labour camps but ended the
policy in the 1970s.

Castro, 47 and married, has led gay rights parades in Havana, and urged
the government to approve gay marriage, which has not yet happened.

"We continue to confront strong prejudices," she said.

(Reporting by Nelson Acosta; Editing by Jeff Franks and Cynthia Osterman)

Castro Daughter Says Cuba Communists Exclude Gays - NYTimes.com (19
January 2010)
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/01/19/world/international-uk-cuba-gays-castro.html