This lesbian hip-hop duo from Cuba fights homophobia with music

This lesbian hip-hop duo from Cuba fights homophobia with music
In the early years after 1959 revolution, homosexuality was seen as
counter-revolutionary and Cuba's socialist rulers sent gay people to
correctional labor camps.
By: Reuters | London | Updated: March 15, 2016 7:53 pm

According to Odaymara Cuesta from the lesbian Cuban hip-hop band Krudas
Cubensi, there's a gay person in every family in Cuba.
But a lot needs to change in Cuba before its lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT) citizens are able to expose their true identity
without fear of discrimination in an island nation once notoriously
hostile toward them, she said.
"Cuba is a very misogynistic country and it's hard to be a lesbian or
queer person here," Cuesta told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone
from Havana.
"Even though the new generation is more open and tolerant, we need to be
better educated about same-sex relationships and LGBT rights."
In the early years after 1959 revolution, homosexuality was seen as
counter-revolutionary and Cuba's socialist rulers sent gay people to
correctional labor camps.
But gay rights in Cuba have taken great strides in recent years. In
2010, former president Fidel Castro said he regretted the discrimination
faced by gay Cubans after his revolution, saying it was a "great injustice".
His niece Mariela Castro, daughter of current President Raul Castro, has
been at the forefront of promoting gay rights, and last year led
activists in a mass symbolic wedding to promote acceptance of gay and
transgender Cubans.
In 2014 the National Assembly approved a labor law that banned
discrimination based on sexual orientation, and free gender reassignment
surgery has been available since 2008.
For Cuesta and Olivia Prendes of Krudas Cubensi, music is another way of
promoting gay rights.
"Music is a very important tool in educating our people and letting them
know who we are and what we do," Prendes said. "Through music we fight
for our rights."
Prendes said that when the band released their first album in 2003 the
hip-hop community in Cuba was shocked because it was the first time
anyone talked about lesbians or feminism.
"The hip-hop community is mainly straight and focused on social issues,"
she said. "Straight people in Cuba don't understand that people like us
exist."
Prendes admitted that for her and Cuesta, who now divide their time
between Cuba and the United States, their fame has made it easier to be gay.
"More people know us and admire us and are curious about who we are,"
she said.
But in small towns and the countryside, Cubans identifying as gay are
not open about their sexuality, said Prendes.
"It is not easy to be openly queer and many people are living in the
closet," she said. "The reality has deprived our people from pride and
sexual liberation. Hate speech is everywhere."
Prendes said she was hoping that more music-loving Cubans would change
their attitudes towards LGBT people by listening to their music.
"We're still fighting for our rights, we're still fighting for equal
marriage, equal rights for LGBT people," she said.
Elsewhere in Latin America, Argentina and Uruguay have legalized
same-sex marriage, as has Mexico City, but in Cuba marriage remains a
distant goal.

Source: This lesbian hip-hop duo from Cuba fights homophobia with music
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