Information on the situation of homosexuals or those suspected of being homosexual when they wish to obtain a university education, employment in the tourism industry and/or wish to travel abroad on behalf of their employers, 1984 to present [CUB27980.E]

Information on these specifics subjects is limited among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

For background information on homosexuals in Cuba since 1984, please consult Responses to Information Requests CUB26736.E of 25 April 1997 and CUB14841.E of 13 August 1993, as well as the April 1996 Question and Answer Series document entitled Cuba: The Human Rights Situation, all available in Regional Documentation Centres.

According to a 27 August 1997 IPS report, homosexuality was sufficient grounds for refusing an individual into entering specific university programs. A 21 October 1994 San Francisco Chronicle report states that gays were often expelled from universities for decades. Both reports refer to this discrimination based on sexual orientation as a practice of the past (IPS 27 Aug. 1997; San Francisco Chronicle 21 Oct. 1994).

Please note that the 27 August 1997 IPS report states that, as a result of Penal Code reforms that were put into effect on 25 August 1997, "no crime will be conditioned by the sexual inclination or gender of the implicated individuals."

Information on the situation of homosexuals who wish to obtain employment in the tourism industry or travel abroad on behalf of their employers could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References


Inter Press Service (IPS). 27 August 1997. Dalia Acosta. "Cuba-Rights: Homosexuals Charge Homophobia Over Closure of Gay Bar." (NEXIS)

The San Francisco Chronicle. 21 October 1994. Final Edition. John Otis. "Coming Out in Cuba For Cuba's Gays, Repression Is Past." (NEXIS)

Attachments


Inter Press Service (IPS). 27 August 1997. Dalia Acosta. "Cuba-Rights: Homosexuals Charge Homophobia Over Closure of Gay Bar." (NEXIS)

The San Francisco Chronicle. 21 October 1994. Final Edition. John Otis. "Coming Out in Cuba For Cuba's Gays, Repression Is Past." (NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted


Amnesty International Report. 1994-1997.

Cuba: A Country Study. 1987.

Human Rights Watch World Report. 1996-1997.
Human Rights Watch (HRW). October 1995.

Improvements without Reforms.

IGLHRC Action Alert [San Francisco]. 1993-1997.

ILGA Bulletin [Brussels]. 1993-1997.
INS Resource Center. June 1995.

Information Packet Series: Human Rights in Cuba.

Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 1990-1997.

Latin American Weekly Report [London]. 1996-1997.

News from Americas Watch [New York]. 1990-1997.

One oral source did not provide information on the above-mentioned subject.

Electronic sources: IRB Databases, Global News Bank, Internet, REFWORLD (UNHCR database), World News Connection (WNC).