Havana dons giant rainbow flags in key year for Cuban LGBT+ rights

18/5/2021 12:06

        Cuba draped its health ministry with a giant rainbow flag on Monday to mark International Day against Homophobia, in a key year for LGBT+ rights as the
        Caribbean country decides on a new family code that could approve same-sex marriage.
        
        Cuba, which sent gays to correctional labor camps in the early years after its 1959 leftist revolution, made considerable advances in LGBT+ rights in the 2000s and 2010s, despite the widespread persistence of machismo.
        
        The island nation introduced the right to free sex-change operations, banned workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and started holding annual congas against homophobia - Cuba's equivalent of gay pride.
        
        Forced to suspend the conga this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Havana added a touch of gay pride through the giant rainbow flag instead. Authorities say they will project the flag onto two colonial castles in Old Havana at night as well.