[Blog/Commentary] [USA] Transphobia Versus Homophobia
Stephanie Stevens
Transphobia Versus Homophobia
Posted on March 12, 2010 by Oriol R. Gutierrez Jr.
Cuba is once again paying for sexual reassignment surgeries. The
government began a program to fund the operations in 1988, but in
response to complaints the program was suspended—until now.
The new program is a direct result of the advocacy of Mariela Castro.
She runs the national sexual education center and also happens to be
the daughter of Raul Castro, the current president of Cuba (and
brother of Fidel Castro, the former president, who although ill is
still alive).
Here’s an excerpt from the AP story
<http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ixJkS7CKb4Ip6WLl7USvORDmYB_AD9EBNFBG0>
on it, which seems to be everywhere:
Mariela Castro says the government is moving cautiously, doing
only a few per year.
“There has been a lot of resistance because homophobia remains
strong in our culture,” she said at a recent conference on sexuality.
In the 1960s, Cuba was ferociously anti-gay, firing homosexuals
from state jobs, imprisoning them or sending them to work camps. Many
fled into exile. Transsexuals, though not gay, were considered the
same.
That last sentence is critical to making the AP story fair and
accurate. Without that sentence, the reader would be left with the
false impression that homophobia and transphobia are the same thing,
which of course they are not. The classic sin of omission.
There are many examples of that false impression in other stories,
including a story
<http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/A-Sex-Change-of-Pace-in-Cuba-87219762.html>
from NBC Miami. It includes the same Mariela Castro quote from the AP
story, then cites a quote from Fidel Castro:
Fidel himself has said gays have a place in Cuba.
“I’d like to think that discrimination against homosexuals is a
problem that is being overcome,” he said during a series of interviews
between 2003 and 2005. “Old prejudices and narrow-mindedness will
increasingly be things of the past.”
Fidel may or may not be equating homosexuals and transsexuals, but the
article should not leave that distinction unclear.
An article by the European LGBT news source Pink News does include
<http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/03/10/cuba-pays-for-gender-reassignment-surgery/>
such a disclaimer, so to speak:
Sexual diversity was seen by Fidel Castro as a corrupt consequence
of capitalism and trans people were treated with the same suspicion
and prejudice as gays.
Some may argue that inclusion of such explanatory sentences are not
necessary, but I obviously would disagree.
http://nlgjareact.wordpress.com/2010/03/12/transphobia-versus-homophobia/