{"id":159963,"date":"2022-09-26T17:57:16","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T21:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=159963"},"modified":"2022-09-26T18:03:58","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T22:03:58","slug":"country-votes-to-legalise-same-sex-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/country-votes-to-legalise-same-sex-marriage\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuba votes to legalise same-sex marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cuba has voted to legalise same-sex marriage in a national referendum.<\/b><\/p>

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About two-thirds of the population voted to approve reforms in a new Family Code, which will also allow surrogate pregnancies and give gay couples the right to adopt children.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It marks a big moment for Cuba, which saw gay people persecuted and sent to work camps in the 1960s and 70s.<\/p>

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However, there was significant opposition to the reforms among religious groups and conservatives.<\/p>

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The referendum on Sunday was for a new Family Code – a 100-page document which went through more than two dozen drafts and hours of debate in community-level meetings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Cuba’s government had backed the law change and ran a nationwide campaign urging people to approve it.<\/p>

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Speaking as he voted on Sunday, the country’s President, Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel, said he expected most of the population would vote yes and that the new code reflected the diversity of people, families and beliefs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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On Monday, preliminary results indicated an “irreversible trend”, with 66% of votes counted so far in favour of the reform, electoral council president Alina Balseiro said on state television, according to AFP news agency. The law required 50% of voters’ approval to be adopted.<\/p>

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The reforms were the culmination of efforts by gay rights activists in Cuba.<\/p>

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Official attitudes towards homosexuality on the Communist-run island have changed over the past decades, partly thanks to the efforts of former leader Ra\u00fal Castro’s daughter Mariela.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In the early part of communist leader Fidel Castro’s rule after the 1959 revolution, homosexual men and women were sent to work camps for supposed “re-education”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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However, many in Cuba still oppose the step, including evangelical churches and other non-religious conservatives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Parts of the opposition also campaigned for a “no” vote, urging Cubans to seize a unique opportunity to hand the country’s communist government a defeat in the polls.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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