Actress Candis Cayne and LGBT activists
Evan Wolfson and Tico Almeida headed to Cuba this week to participate
in International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia events.
According to Reuters, Cayne, who
currently appears on E!'s reality series I Am Cait, on
Saturday joined a street “conga” dance against homophobia in
Havana, which was led by Fidel Castro's niece, Mariela Castro.
Castro, who heads Cuba's Center for Sex
Education, on Thursday met with LGBT activist Evan Wolfson, founder
of Freedom to Marry.
“I'm no expert and am here to learn,
listen and share ideas, including a better understanding of Cuba's
pathway to the freedom to marry,” Wolfson told the Miami
Herald from Havana. “Nearly 70% of the people of Latin
America now live in a freedom to marry country. The Cuban people
deserve no less.”
Almeida, the Cuban-American founder of
Freedom to Work, added: “I am looking forward to meeting the brave
Cubans advocating for marriage equality, and I am honored that I have
been invited to speak on a panel about our experience in the United
States litigating against LGBT workplace discrimination in the
historic case called Freedom to Work vs. ExxonMobil. I’m
also looking forward to the LGBT pride parade next week in the Cuban
city of Matanzas, which elected my great-grandfather as its mayor in
the 1930’s and then to the Cuban Senate in the 1940’s. I hope
this is the first, but not last time I can invite my Cuban relatives
to join me in celebrating LGBT pride.”
In addition to Saturday's pride parade
in Havana, events planned include panels, community fairs and a
second parade in the Cuban city of Matanzas on Tuesday, May 17.