lGBTQ Cuba
The road to LGBTQ rights has been a long and complicated one in Cuba. I began documenting the scene in 2012, after a friend of mine took me to a gay club in Havana. I was awe-struck. For decades it had been illegal to be queer in Cuba, yet there I was at a government-sanctioned drag show. I began following a trans performer I met there — and I became a fixture on the scene. The images in this gallery are from 2015, a time when rights for LGBTQ people were blooming on the island. Mariela Castro, the daughter of then-President Raul Castro, had begun spearheading a movement for equality. Huge pride events would take place every spring. Nightclubs acted as meeting places and safe spaces for the queer community. In recent years, as scarcity, oppression and economic collapse have marred the island, the fights for LGBTQ rights has become much more complicated. Now, with less government support, activists have begun to organize online. I am glad I was able to document the heady movement at a time when so many people were filled with hope. But it’s bittersweet.
More on this project at HUCK Magazine
