Photo: Mario José Delgado González, Vice President of the Reynaldo Arenas in Memoriam LGBT Foundation, speaks to media at Habana's Quijote Park on the day the pride march was cancelled (CSM/Cuba Encuentro)Of all the recent developments in LGBT rights throughout Latin America, few have been as fascinating as the Cuban government's increasing openness towards the island's LGBT population (particularly in light Fidel Castro's repressive record on LGBT issues during his mandate).When Fidel finally relinquished his dictator's throne earlier this year to make way for his brother Raúl some commentators said that they expected little to change in the island. ...

Towleroad has the first reports of a government crackdown of a scheduled June 25th gay pride parade in Havana, Cuba. According to Ambiente, The Cuban Commission on Human Rights for people with HIV and Sexual Races, the Cuban League against AIDS, Elena Mederos Foundation, The Foundation LGTB Reinaldo Arenas in Memoriam, Elena Mederos Foundation, the Cuban Movement for Gay Liberation, the Havana Transsexual Collective, Havana LGTB Cultural Center and the Organization of Gay Political Presidio Reinaldo Arenas were all expected to participate in the march." It was to begin in the "Don Quixote" park in the neighborhood of ...

The Associated Press reports Cuba's Roman Catholic Church, long repressed under the Fidel Castro regime, is flexing its newly-liberated muscle to protest the communist government's growing support of gay rights: "Respect for the homosexual person, yes," said an editorial in... ...

Troubling news in a release just sent out by Ambiente: "Today, June 25th, starting at ten o'clock, the first ever Cuban Gay Pride march under the slogan 'You are not alone' attempted to take place in Havana for the liberation and respect of sexual diversity in Cuba, but as organizers arrived at the scheduled starting point, several of them were met by Cuban police, who beat & arrested several of them." According to Ambiente, The Cuban Commission on Human Rights for people with HIV and Sexual Races, the Cuban League against AIDS, Elena Mederos Foundation, The Foundation LGTB Reinaldo Arenas ...