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ISSN 1527-3172 (Electronic)

2010, Number 4

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MEDICC Review 2010; 12 (4)

Transgender health in Cuba: Evolving policy to impact practice

Gorry C

Language: English
References: 19
Page: 5-9
PDF size: 163.04 Kb.


Text Extraction

“I never felt like a boy. In school I was rejected, made fun of, and mistreated… There were times I wanted to kill myself. No one chooses this,” confides Mavi Susel, protagonist of the 2010 Cuban documentary In the Wrong Body (En el cuerpo equivocado). On May 22, 1988, Mavi became the first Cuban to receive sex reassignment surgery on the island. Her tale of stigmatization, solitude and pain is not uncommon in Cuba or the world at large.
Rejecting one’s biological sex due to the discordance between an individual’s genitalia (biological sex) and their gender identity (psychological sex) is the definition of transsexuality. “This incongruity is felt profoundly by transsexual people, is permanent, and causes great anguish,” internist Dr Alberto Roque told MEDICC Review. “This anguish can result in severe mental health disorders, usually related to discrimination, stigmatization, and rejection.” In turn, victimization renders some transgender people reluctant to seek medical care or fully disclose their gender identity when they do.


REFERENCES

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  2. Sanchez NF, Sanchez JP, Danoff A. Health Care Utilization, Barriers to Care, and Hormone Usage among Male-to-Female Transgender Persons in New York City. Am J Public Health. 2009 Apr;99(4):713–9. See also: Lombardi E. Enhancing Transgender Health Care. Am J Public Health. 2001 Jun;91(6):869–72.

  3. Gay and Lesbian Medical Association and LGBT health experts. Healthy People 2010 Companion Document for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Health. San Francisco, CA: Gay and Lesbian Medical Association; 2001.

  4. Commissioner for Human Rights. Human rights and gender identity. Council of Europe. Commissioner for Human Rights Issue Paper. Strasbourg, France: 29 July 2009.

  5. Between 1965 and 1968, homosexuals and others were sent to re-education work camps. In an August 2010 interview, Fidel Castro apologized for this discriminatory policy saying: “those were times of great injustice, a great injustice!... If anyone is responsible, it’s me.” Lira C. Soy el responsable de la persecución a homosexuales que hubo en Cuba: Fidel Castro. La Jornada (Mexico) [Internet]. 2010 Aug 31 [cited 2010 September 14]. Available from: www.jornada.unam.mx/2010/08/31/index.php?section=mundo&article=026e1 mun. For greater context of homosexuality in Cuba in the 1960s, see: Roque A. Fidel Castro, las UMAP y los perversos cubanólogos. Sitio de CENESEX y Diversidad Sexual. Available from: http://www.cenesex.sld.cu/webs/diversidad/ Fidel%20UMAP.html

  6. Castro M. La atención integral a personas transexuales en Cuba y su inclusión en las políticas sociales [PowerPoint presentation]. Havana; 2008.

  7. At that time, ‘gender disorder’ was the prevailing terminology and is still used in some countries; in 2010, Cuban specialists issued a statement rejecting classification of transsexuality as a disorder.

  8. Mariela Castro. La Asamblea Nacional discutirá la ‘ley gay’ en 2011. Diario de Cuba (Spain) [Internet]. 2010 Sep 1 [cited 2010 September 13]. Available from: http://diariodecuba.com/cuba/81-cuba/3053-mariela-castro-la-asambleanacional- discutira-la-ley-gay-en-2011.html

  9. Diversidad sexual…¿juzgar o entender? Juventud Rebelde [Internet]. 2008 May 11 [cited 2010 September 12]. Available from: http://www.juventudrebelde. cu/cuba/2008-05-11/diversidad-sexual-juzgar-o-entender/.

  10. Gorry C. The macho and super macho: gender perspective in Cuba. Special article for Programa Conjunto de Oxfam. Havana: Oxfam; 2007 Apr.

  11. These include the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), Cattell 16PF Form C (self-analysis form), the Locus of Control test (Rotter), and more. For details see: “Trastorno de identidad de género y personas transexuales: Pautas de atención psicológica” by RM Rodríguez et al in Transexualidad en Cuba. Havana: CENESEX; 2008.

  12. Interview with Rosa Mayra Rodríguez, 16 Sep 2010.

  13. Castro M. Keynote speech. Primer Coloquio Internacional Trans-Identidades, Género, y Cultura. Havana; 2010 Jun 9.

  14. Rodríguez RM, García CT, Alfonso AC. “Trastorno de identidad de género y personas transexuales: Pautas de atención psicológica” in Transexualidad en Cuba. Havana: CENESEX; 2008.

  15. Acosta D. Wendy, una transsexual frente al espejo. IPS (Havana) [Internet]. 2009 Jan [cited 2010 September 18]. Available from: http://ipsnoticias.net/ nota.asp?idnews=94481. Spanish.

  16. Roque A. Challenges to the Cuban Family and Society [Internet]. Remarks given at the opening of the panel on the family and society during the observation of World Anti-Homophobia Day, 2010; 2010 May 16; Havana [cited 2010 September 28]. Available from: www.walterlippmann.com/docs2901.html

  17. Rodríguez RM, Alfonso AC, Díaz O, Rodríguez M. Reencuentro con la familia en el proceso grupal. Descripción de las sesiones del trabajo. In: Transexualidad en Cuba. Havana: CENESEX; 2008.

  18. Sociedad Cubana Multidisciplinaria para el Estudio de la Sexualidad. Declaración para la despatologización de la transexualidad en el V Congreso de Sexualidad [Internet]. 2010 Jan 22 [cited 2010 September 12] Havana; 2010. Available from: www.cenesex.sld.cu/webs/diversidad/declaracion_trans.html

  19. International Commission of Jurists and International Service for Human Rights. Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in Relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity [Internet]. 2007 [cited 2010 September 12]. Geneva; 2007. Available from: www.yogyakartaprinciples. org/principles_en.htm




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