Mariela Castro, the daughter of Cuban
President Raul Castro, over the weekend sponsored a mass gay
“wedding” in the nation's capital of Havana.
More than 20 gay and lesbian couples
were blessed by protestant priests vising from the United States.
The ceremonies were held during the
capital's annual Gay Pride parade, Reuters reported.
Gay couples are not allowed to marry in
the mostly Catholic country, which has a long history of persecuting
gays.
Castro, an MP and the head of the
nation's Center for Sex Education, led the colorful parade, which
attracted an estimated 1,000 campaigners.
Under Fidel Castro's regime, gays were
considered “ideological deviants” and were often jailed. The
government at one time also held Cubans with HIV/AIDS in camps.