Cuba votes in a referendum if it approves gay marriage and surrogacy

The Cuban electoral colleges have opened at 7:00 in the morning (1:00 p.m., Spanish peninsular time) for the vote on the referendum about the new Family Codea legislative package that foresees the approval of the gay marriagethe surrogacy and the adoption by couples of same sex and that has had the opposition of the Episcopal Conference of the island.

the Cuban president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, and his wife, Lisa Cuesta, have voted at 7:48 a.m. (local time) in School 3 of District 57, in the municipality of Playa de La Habana, according to Cuban media reports. “Today is the appointment with the future. #25DeSept has arrived. A day to change “everything that needs to be changed” in Family Law in #Cuba. See you at the polls. #CodigoYes”, Díaz-Canel published in Twitter.

“This Code arose from popular debate, from a social need. In recent years our society has become more heterogeneousCuban families changed and appeared new types of relationships. There were debts with the treatment from the legal norms to certain topics of inheritance and of affectedand I think it was fair that they be taken into account at a time like this,” argued the president in statements collected by the official CubaDebate website. For Díaz-Canel, “the expectation is not that it will be a unanimous vote, but yes i think it will be majority by our people.”

The approval of the Family Code has become the main obsession of the ruling sectors that, led by Díaz-Canel himself, have launched a intense social media campaign to promote the vote in favor of the project under the slogan ‘Code, yes’ and has even referred to the day as “a holiday for Cuba”.

Although the referendum starts on Sunday on the island, the vote has already concluded abroad, where, according to official figures, more than 22,000 people — including diplomats and those who are abroad “for official reasons” — have already exercised their right to vote.

The Church, main opponent

One of the main groups against the renewal of the Family Code has been the Cuban Church, which has even come to adhere to statements attributed to the Cuban independence leader Jose Marti in which he defined “love” as “the ardent and unconditional adhesion that an individual of one sex feels towards an individual of the other”.

In this sense, the Church has defended that marriage between man and woman is “natural” and it cannot be “displaced or deformed” to make way for other legal formulas since “this is the original plan of the creator”. In mid-September, the Cuban bishops released a statement in which they collected their discrepancies with the legislative project because they consider that the introduction of “gender ideology” is not beneficial for families, just as they point out as negative the possibility that minors can assume their gender identity.

Regarding adoption between same-sex couples, the Church denounces that this contravenes “what by nature corresponds to and needs” a minor: “a father and a mother”. “Every child is a gift and an end in itself; it is a child’s right to have a father and a mother.” Along the same lines, they have also charged against the surrogacy not considering it ethical.

Despite this, the Cuban bishops do consider positive aspects such as the rejection of domestic violence, the defense of rights and the care of the older population and those with disabilities. They have also praised the protection of children and pregnant women.

Opposition Complaints

“This, however, cannot ignore the questioning, criticism, and rejection of an important sector of society, which are based on legitimate principles, values, human and biological sciences, our history, traditions and religious beliefs of our people”, they have pointed out from the Church.

For all this, the Cuban Episcopal Conference has appealed to “the conscience and responsibility” of the Cuban population, whether they are believers or not, so that they vote conscientiously not only for current generations, but also for future ones. “May María de la Caridad, our mother and patron saint, intercede for each one of her Cuban children so that we make the best decision,” they concluded.

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Other voices critical of the Government, such as the singer Yotuel Romero or the playwright Yunior Garcia Aguilerahave questioned the vote and have advocated abstention, not so much because of its content, but because of the fact that the authorities submit “common sense” issues to a referendum, while they impose the rest of the decisions on the island.

Similarly, the prominent Cuban opponent William Farinas He has come to assure that participating in the vote “is accepting an institutionalized fraud”, at the same time that he has campaigned openly for the ‘no’. “The Family Code is a hypocritical maneuver of affective manipulation”, she has affirmed.