The Sixth Sexology Congress convened in Havana on January 23rd and will conclude on the 26th. It was announced that the director of the National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX), Mariela Castro, would offer a session about sex education in the process of social transformation. The cameras and journalists have focused on her and pursued her since 2006 looking for a scoop, an interview or, simply to augment and update their library. She always looks at them with great satisfaction and as if she is enjoying her frequent appearances in the media and in academia.
I support the project she leads like every other mortal because — fortunately! — modernity has brought us greater equality in the legal system and we are increasingly those who defend the rights of all, respect diversity and oppose any discrimination. I do not approve that this graduate in pedagogy and sociology, 49 years old, limits her cognitive tools to her specialty in CENESEX. That she disregards the rest of the rights inherent in a person; it’s a slip that affirms her fear of losing her share of power and privileges that she surely enjoys.
Perhaps her behavior responds to an “inclusive” design –I’m an optimist — drafted from the Cuban political zenith that implies a transformative process of several stages. But, how, what and to what point? Diversity is not delineated from the state with an elitist theory, but with pluralism and the participation of all. I consider the fight for the rights of our gay, lesbian, bisexual, intersexual and transsexual compatriots a good cause, but better still is to work and fight for the rights of the Cuban community in its totality. This is a process more congruent with the concept of respect for diversity which the daughter of the Cuban president advocates with ambivalence.
January 24 2012
