14ymedio, Havana, 6 September 2020 — After a few days its implementation, the measure that designated different days in Santiago de Cuba for men and women to line up at establishments that sell food and basic necessities was repealed by decision of the local government, after the complaints of many citizens.
The new measure had unleashed a wave of criticism on social networks, especially from the island’s LGTB community. In the heat of the debate, the article that announced the measure on the local newspaper’s website was deleted.
The National Center for Sex Education, headed by Mariela Castro, daughter of the former Cuban leader Raul Castro, also publicly expressed her concern and assured that she had discussed the issue with the government of that province and offered some “elements of analysis.”
According to the announcement, published this Friday in the print edition of the local newspaper Sierra Maestra, the measure will be suspended as of Monday, September 7.
“Regulations may undergo changes according to the results, behavior and opinions of the population,” added the authorities of the Provincial Defense Council in the official note.
“We appreciate the active participation of the people through telephone calls to the authorities and other means of communication, which help to make decisions for the better functioning of daily life in these difficult times,” they added.
The Provincial Defense Council in Santiago de Cuba cancels the measure that established specific days for “men, women, and other people with limitations,” to acquire basic necessities.
Members of the 11M platform, which takes its name from the independent LGBTI march of March 11, 2019, had also made public their concern over the announcement because in their opinion “it could lacerate a part of the population.”
“We consider that segregation by gender (man-woman) to carry out purchases and other procedures is a violent measure for non-binary gender identities; at the same time it can increase discrimination due to transphobia towards transgender people,” they detailed.
The repealed measure read: “Establish three days of the week in which in the units that commercialize basic necessities only women would buy (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) and three days in which only men would have access (Monday, Wednesday and Friday), reserving the seventh day (Sunday) for the care of the most vulnerable segments such as pregnant women, people with special conditions such as the blind, deaf, limited physical mobility, among others, upon presentation of the document that identifies it or before the evidence of their condition. “
Its implementation was aimed at “increasing control and discipline in lines,” seeking to reduce the risk of transmission of Covid-19
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