{"id":8208,"date":"2023-09-06T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/?p=8208"},"modified":"2023-09-05T21:42:57","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T21:42:57","slug":"how-the-cuban-government-and-people-collaborated-on-the-family-code","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/how-the-cuban-government-and-people-collaborated-on-the-family-code\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Cuban government and people collaborated on the Family Code"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cuba passed<\/a> one of the world\u2019s most progressive codes on families on September 25. All in one go, the small island nation legalised same-sex marriage, defined and upheld the rights of children, the disabled, caregivers, the elderly, and redefined \u201cfamily\u201d along ties of affinity rather than blood. This opens the concept of \u201cfamily\u201d to include non-traditional forms of familial relations, which exist outside the model of the heterosexual nuclear family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hailed as \u201crevolutionary\u201d by many in Cuba, the code will help provide protections to people who would have otherwise faced discrimination in society while ensuring that Cubans in same-sex relationships who wish to marry now have the legal right to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to young Cubans and social movement leaders, whom I spoke to about the Family Code while attending a conference titled \u201cBuilding Our Future<\/a>\u201d in Havana in November, the code is a reflection of a dialogue between the Cuban people and their government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the time since the code was passed, the Cuban government remains in dialogue with the people. The Ministry of Justice is still holding seminars<\/a> in provinces throughout Cuba for people seeking answers to questions that have come up during the implementation process. The Family Code has been influencing everything from sports<\/a> to property relations. Notably, in just the first two months of the law being passed, 112 same-sex marriages<\/a> were registered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A revolutionary Code<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a revolutionary code that will change the thinking and the vision that Cubans have regarding \u2026 discriminations that can happen in society,\u201d said Jose Luiz, a third-year international relations student at the Higher Institute of International Relations Raul Roa Garc\u00eda. The Family Code legalises and broadens the definition of a \u201cfamily\u201d far beyond the traditional definition<\/a>. The code \u201cwill bring new protections to people who have, in one way or another, been discriminated against,\u201d Luiz told me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cuba ratified <\/a>a new constitution in 2019. The constitution was written through \u201cpopular consultations<\/a>\u201d with the Cuban people. Through this process, Cubans participated in community discussions with government officials to both discuss and amend the constitution. Article 68, which called for defining marriage as a union between two people, thus legalizing same-sex marriage, was mentioned in 66%<\/a> of popular consultation meetings. A majority<\/a> of the Cuban people involved in these processes supported maintaining the definition of marriage as being a union between a man and a woman. This is partly due to historic prejudices<\/a> against LGBTQ+ people that are prevalent across<\/a> the Americas, and partly due to Cuba\u2019s growing conservative evangelical movement<\/a>, which opposes<\/a> progressive social reforms such as same-sex marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After intense debate regarding Article 68 among the Cuban people, the constitutional commission decided not to include<\/a> the proposed language in favour of same-sex marriage and instead pushed<\/a> the decision of addressing the matter through a future \u201cfamily code\u201d legislation. This legislation became the 2022 Family Code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Popular consultation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In order to overcome social conservatism to pass one of the most progressive<\/a> Family Codes in the world, Cuba underwent a meticulous process of popular consultation, from February 1 to April 30, 2022. The National Assembly of People\u2019s Power stressed<\/a> the importance of Cubans familiarising themselves with the code, in order to prevent feelings of uncertainty. Through this process, the Cuban people made more than 400,000 proposals<\/a>, many of which were included in the finalised code. Minister of Justice, Oscar Manuel Silvera Mart\u00ednez, said<\/a> that the 25th version of the code, presented to and approved by the National Assembly, \u201cwas more solid because it was imbued with the wisdom of the people\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Young people played a central role in the process leading up to the approval of the Family Code. \u201cCuban youth \u2026 are involved in all tasks that are deployed by the Cuban revolution,\u201d said Luiz. \u201cWe also participated in our referendum for our constitution in 2019<\/a>. We were in popular committees, discussing the constitution and we contributed to that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, Cuba held a referendum on a new constitution. The referendum passed with a majority vote of 87%<\/a>, which is about 73.3% of the total electorate. The referendum was preceded by a popular consultation process, in which a draft constitution was discussed in 133,000 public meetings nationwide, where people submitted 783,000 proposals for changes. Officials stated that almost 60% of the draft constitution was modified based on the proposals submitted by the public during the popular consultation process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember at my college, we had meetings to explain the [Family Code], and for us as students to give our perspective of the code and propose something for the code,\u201d Neisser Liban Calder\u00f3n Garc\u00eda, also a Cuban international relations student, told me. \u201cBut after we did that at college, we had the same thing in our community, with a different perspective because at college we are with our friends, with [other] students; but in the community, we are with people from all ages and from different families.\u201d Garc\u00eda, who has a boyfriend, told me that he is glad that he will now have the opportunity to marry in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results of this popular process speak for themselves: With 74%<\/a> of eligible voters participating, the Family Code passed in a landslide victory with 67% percent of votes in favour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe day that\u2026 [the Cuban people] voted for the Family Code in the popular referendum, I also participated directly in the polling station,\u201d said Luiz. \u201cI could see the high participation of the people in the process, and the high acceptance and eagerness for the approval of the code.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Luiz mentioned, some young people had the opportunity to participate in an even more direct way. \u201cThrough the University Student Federation [FEU], we have meetings with the leadership of the country. For example, my institute had a meeting with the president. And in that meeting, we described the vision we have as revolutionary and communist youths, the vision we have of the change that needs to happen regarding the base and the leaders of the country,\u201d Luiz said. \u201cWe have a voice [as youth] in every space that we have, including the president of FEU<\/a> [who at the time was law student Karla Santana]. She is part of the National Assembly of People\u2019s Power<\/a> in Cuba. And she shares her perspective with the Cuban government regarding the thinking of the youth and its tradition in the Cuban revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gretel Marante Roset, international relations officer for the Federation of Cuban Women, told me that the women played a special role in the process of creating the Family Code. \u201cOur commander in chief [Fidel Castro] said that the Federation of Cuban Women is a revolution within another revolution. Women in Cuba are beneficiaries and protagonists of our own development.\u201d Women hold half<\/a> of all national parliamentary seats in Cuba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Federation of Cuban Women was part of the commission writing the draft of the Family Code to propose the text and interpretation of gender equality,\u201d Marante Roset told me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAbout the Family Code, I think that the document is for the future. It is based on love\u2026 recognizing other types of families, joint human rights\u2026 I think that this is the future for Cuba,\u201d Marante Roset said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[This article was produced in partnership by Peoples Dispatch<\/a><\/em> and Globetrotter<\/a>. Natalia Marques is a writer at Peoples Dispatch<\/em>, an organiser, and graphic designer based in New York City.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cuba\u00a0passed\u00a0one of the world\u2019s most progressive codes on families on September 25 last year. All in one go, the small island nation legalised same-sex marriage, defined and upheld the rights of children, the disabled, caregivers, the elderly, and redefined \u201cfamily\u201d along ties of affinity rather than blood. This opens the concept of \u201cfamily\u201d to include non-traditional forms of familial relations, which exist outside the model of the heterosexual nuclear family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101011,"featured_media":8209,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cuba","category-featured"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7582,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/cuba-prepares-for-referendum-on-progressive-family-code\/","url_meta":{"origin":8208,"position":0},"title":"Cuba prepares for referendum on progressive Family Code","author":"Editorial Team","date":"September 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The new Family Code, drafted in consultation with the general public, is considered to be the world\u2019s most inclusive and progressive code Cuba is set to hold a popular referendum on its new Family Code, which changes the concept of the family nucleus and expands women\u2019s rights and LGBTQ+ rights.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/category\/news\/featured\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cuba-Codigo-Familias-Family-Code-referendum.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cuba-Codigo-Familias-Family-Code-referendum.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cuba-Codigo-Familias-Family-Code-referendum.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cuba-Codigo-Familias-Family-Code-referendum.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cuba-Codigo-Familias-Family-Code-referendum.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7943,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/cuba-in-all-its-diversity\/","url_meta":{"origin":8208,"position":1},"title":"Cuba in all its diversity","author":"Editorial Team","date":"January 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Cuba never lost its compass amidst challenges and difficulties, nor did it stop thinking about its future, which was particularly reflected in the approval of the Code of Families, the intense legislative schedule and the recent municipal elections, which undoubtedly constituted relevant moments in the national political agenda.","rel":"","context":"In "Cuba"","block_context":{"text":"Cuba","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/category\/cuba\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2023-01-09-at-00.23.25-1.png?fit=618%2C580&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2023-01-09-at-00.23.25-1.png?fit=618%2C580&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2023-01-09-at-00.23.25-1.png?fit=618%2C580&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7670,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/victory-in-cuba-new-family-code-affirms-equality-within-family-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":8208,"position":2},"title":"Victory in Cuba \u2013 New Family Code Affirms Equality within Family Life","author":"Editorial Team","date":"September 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"BY\u00a0W. 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