this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2025
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Right now Cuba has the most equal LGBT rights in the world.
Do you think that Wikipedia is going to be unbiased on a country that has been the USA's enemy and under perpetual blockade and embargo for 70 years?
If I might suggest an alternative resource for any reader interested, Leslie Feinberg wrote a book which is free, called Rainbow Solidary : In Defense of Cuba. It is free to read as PDF here https://www.workers.org/wp-content/uploads/LavenderRed_Cubabook.pdf. It was hir last book before hir premature death. Zie was LGBT activist who also wrote Stone Butch Blues, Transgender Warriors and Trans Liberation : Beyond Pink and Blue.
It is a nuanced book, which covers the history of Cuba's LGBT community pre-colonization, under Spanish colonization, under US control after the Spanish-American War and the two dictatorships of the early to mid 20th century, moving into the communist regime into the 00s.
It covers the bad, machismo culture and the UMAP camps, slide back on rights at certain times, but it also quite clearly outlines the historical progress they made on LBGT rights, often ahead of the rest of the world. You say they were arresting trans people in the 80s-90s, when they were literally flying their doctors to East Germany to learn how to do state funded gender affirming surgery at that time.
It's a worthwhile read. Cuba is not and wasn't ever perfect, but the communist party and the LGBT community in dialectical relationship with one and another have shaped a course that is historically progressive and inspirational.
That’s completely valid. Thank you for sharing; like I said I’m still relatively new so hearing insight from more established users helps a lot. You’d think the natural association would be basic fucking human rights = common sense leftism but that is unfortunately not the case for established leftist governments at the minimum. (Spoken as someone who, to my knowledge, aligns leftist/anarchist)
We have to have each others’ backs because “allyship” is a finicky bitch.
It's also an imperfect view, as @Echidna@lemmy.blahaj.zone said Cuba now has some of the best LGBTQ rights in the world. Social progress is very commonly accelerated in AES countries compared to Capitalist countries because society is oriented in a more cooperative manner. We can see this happen in real time in China, where the youth are far more socially progressive and perspective on LGBTQ issues is stratified more by generation than anything else. There's a long way to go, but progress is happening.
I do wonder what you mean by you aligning leftist/anarchist "to your knowledge," haha.
I’ll have to do more reading then; thank you for sharing as well. It’s awesome to learn that Cuba’s gotten more progressive on LGBTQ issues. I wonder if the user I responded to is from the US since it’s been pretty bad here and we don’t have an established left party, so our “left” is a right wing donor class that pretends to maintain the status quo about 85% of the time.
I say to my knowledge since while I do identify as anarchist and believe healthcare, food, and shelter are bare minimum rights I understand as a human I always have more to learn and will never possess the breadth/depth of the entirety of anarchist/leftist ideology. I may currently hold blind spots and as such will need to learn and adjust in the future.
Yep, Cuba's journey with respect to social development is very admirable, their most recent Family Code is more LGBTQ friendly than the US. The PRC has further to go, but the CPC itself is more LGBTQ neutral, so there's good reason to believe the improving trends over time as generations change will improve legislation.
As for Anarchism/Leftism, I think that's more than sufficient to consider yourself one full-stop, no "to my knowledge" needed. I myself have a long way to go as a Marxist-Leninist, but reading theory has been tremendously clarifying for me and my journey. I know you consider yourself an Anarchist, but if you want recommendations on Marxism-Leninism I made an intro reading list (linked on my profile). I think it's generally useful for Leftists of all stripes to engage with the ideas of other predominant Leftist ideologies.
Hope and action go hand and hand, and it sounds like younger generations in those countries understand that well.
That’s a valid point; the literal definition of anarchy itself is the absence/abolition of hierarchies so that is pretty easily covered in identification. I’ll check it out, thank you! I’m a firm believer in leftist unity as we have the common overarching goal of equitable rights and QoL for all people.
Yep, agreed! Even if the means and ends are different between Marxism and Anarchism, the fundamental obstacle is still Imperialism and Capitalism, and the goal is still focused on the people, not those with Capital.
Feel free to shoot any questions my way!