Cuba Could Expand LGBTQ Rights in September Referendum
metroweekly.comThe Cuban government has opened a path towards expanding the rights of LGBTQ citizens in the Communist nation.On Friday, the country’s National Assembly approved a slate of updates to its Family Codes that will, among other things, legalize same-sex marriage and allow same-sex couples to adopt children.
The fate of these Family Code updates, however, is ultimately in the hands of the Cuban people, who will determine whether to approve the changes in a Sept.
25 referendum, reports Al Jazeera.The changes to the Family Codes will not only legalize same-sex marriage and adoption, but promote equal sharing of domestic responsibilities, and allow same-sex couples to enter into prenuptial agreements and pursue surrogacy when trying to form families.For the past several months, Cuban government officials have been attempting to provide more information on the updates and generate support for them through a lengthy series of public town hall meetings, reports NBC News.
Typically, these kinds of processes are extremely effective for the Cuban government, with referendums getting over 80 percent support not an uncommon occurrence.But according to reporting by Al Jazeera, organizers stated that only 62% of participants expressed support — an uptick from mid-March, when only 54% of participants had, according to Nbc News..
