Cuba approves same-sex marriage by giant margin in landmark referendum

Cubans authorized homosexual marriage and adoption overwhelmingly in a Sunday referendum backed by the federal government that additionally boosted rights for girls, the nationwide election fee stated on Monday.

More than 3.9 million voters voted to ratify the code (66.9%), whereas 1.95 million opposed ratification (33%), Alina Balseiro Gutierrez, president of the fee, stated on state-run tv on Monday.

“Justice has been done,” the Cuban President wrote in a tweet.

“It is paying off a debt with several generations of Cuban men and women, whose family projects have been waiting for this law for years,” he stated.

The 100-page “family code” legalizes same-sex marriage and civil unions, permits same-sex {couples} to undertake youngsters, and promotes equal sharing of home rights and tasks between women and men.

Preliminary outcomes from the electoral fee confirmed 74% of 8.4 million Cubans eligible to vote participated within the Sunday referendum.

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There aren’t any unbiased observers of Cuban elections, though residents might observe the depend at their precincts. Scattered native experiences of district counts on social media appeared to tally with the official outcomes.

The announcement of the outcomes got here as Diaz-Canel presided over an emergency assembly because the Caribbean island ready for Hurricane Ian to move over its western tip early on Tuesday.

Official Twitter accounts confirmed the room erupting in applause and the president leaning again and smiling on the information. The Cuban president led the marketing campaign for the adoption of the code.

By Cuban requirements, Sunday’s turnout was comparatively modest, and a 33% ‘no’ vote comparatively giant within the communist-run nation, the place earlier referendums have seen the federal government place receiving close to unanimous approval.

The dissent is a sign of each how Cuba is altering and the present dire financial circumstances, which have seen lengthy energy outages and features for meals, drugs and gasoline.

Sunday’s vote was additionally the primary of its form since most residents have had entry to the web, which has let dissenting views unfold extra extensively.

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