IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 7 ENGLISH | Page 80

We should also ask ourselves if the
LGBTQ, Afro-descendant community in
Cuba has a right to demand a law to really protect us? We’re talking about equality, about the elimination of racism and
homophobia, about the fact that whites,
blacks, and mestizos, heterosexuals and
homosexuals should all be given equal
opportunities. Much is said about us all
being equal and we have the same rights,
but the facts say something else. While
there is no death penalty for having a
different sexual orientation, there aren’t
any laws to shelter us and prevent us
from being socially excluded, either.
Even though racism isn’t publically declared, we know that it is one of the
causes for social and economic differentiation amongst the entire population,
and there are no laws to stop this. We
have the obligation of knowing how to
def end our rights, demand laws that protect us, and help us relief our pain and
heal the emotional wounds from which
this divided and blind world suffers every day. It doesn’t understand that we are
not aliens or contagious, but instead

simply a certain color or sexual preference. This cannot make anyone feel empowered to mistreat or repudiate us,
since we are human beings who live in
and contribute to our society, when we
are permitted to. Just thinking bout violence sets us up for disaster. Never mind
if we endure different sorts of violence
every day. Gender violence is a mechanism patriarchal society employs to
maintain its masculine power. Patriarchal or machista culture expresses itself
via social and cultural norms supported
by tradition. Through it they try to guarantee male power. Domestic violence
can be found everywhere in our paternalistic society. Not only do psychological
and emotional violence predominate, but
we also face non-marital rape. Homosexuals and Afro-descendants suffer
symbolic violence nowadays. It presents
itself in the most acceptable way, in references to sexist images and texts via the
uncivilized voices and problems we endure both in the media and in the entertainment and leisure industries—and we
even accept it.

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