The New York Times on Saturday
highlighted the story of Ana Rafaela Diaz Gomez, a transgender Cuban
woman.
Support for transgender rights in the
communist country have increased. Since 2008, the state has funded
hormone replacement therapy and gender reassignment surgery.
“I was born in '79,” Ana
says. “In that time, not much was known about this. Society
rejected it, homosexuality and the like. We were more or less
marginalized. There were many people who treated us badly … the
police. We would go out and it wasn't good because I was dressed as
a woman.”
“It's changing now. People's minds
are changing.”
Ana met her husband, Abel Isaac
Hernandez Rondon, eight years ago.
“He liked me how I am, like a person.
After the surgery, we have gotten closer. It was a goal we both
wanted to achieve.”
Abel believes discrimination has
lessened.
“There was a lot of discrimination.
Now I feel much better. I see that she feels good. So I do,” he
says.
Despite the advances, Ana says that
there are “still places where homophobia exists” and the legally
married couple is not allowed to adopt.