HEALTH-CUBA:
Free Sex Change
Operations Approved
By Dalia Acosta
HAVANA (IPS) - New
horizons opened up for
transsexuals in Cuba
with the approval of a
Public Health Ministry
resolution that
establishes guidelines
for their health care,
including free gender
reassignment operations.
"It was just approved.
The operations will
begin to be carried out
as soon as the Cuban
medical team is ready to
start," Mariela Castro,
head of the National
Centre for Sex Education
(CENESEX), told IPS.
Since 2004, Castro,
President Raúl Castro’s
daughter, has been the
driving force in the
effort to achieve
integral health care for
transsexuals in Cuba.
With the support of
international experts, a
team of Cuban
specialists has been
preparing for months to
carry out sex change
surgery, said Castro,
who added that the
operations may begin
this year.
Only one sex
reassignment operation
has ever been carried
out in Cuba, in 1988.
Resolution 126, which
was signed Jun. 4 by
Public Health Minister
José Ramón Balaguer,
establishes the creation
of a centre that will
provide integral health
care for transsexuals.
It will be the only
institution in Cuba
authorised to carry out
gender reassignment
therapy.
The decision also
"legitimates the work of
the National Commission
for Integral Care of
Transsexual People,"
created by CENESEX in
2005 as the continuation
of a multidisciplinary
team that has functioned
since 1979, said Castro.
"This resolution
establishes all of the
aspects of care for
transsexuals, including
the operation for those
who qualify and are
interested, because not
all transsexuals want
the surgery," said the
sexologist.
The functions of the
National Commission
include drafting,
implementing and
coordinating the
national policy on
integral care for
transsexuals, approving
gender reassignment
surgery on a
case-by-case basis,
promoting research and
advising the Public
Health Ministry on
policy-making questions.
The new centre,
meanwhile, will provide
integral care, including
pre and post-op
interviews, diagnosis,
treatment and follow-up
for transsexuals
undergoing sex change
surgery as well as those
who only receive
hormonal treatment.
Several transgender
persons taking part in
the activities of the
International Day
against Homophobia and
Transphobia on May 17 in
Havana told a crowd of
hundreds of people about
their lives and wondered
how long they would have
to wait to win society’s
respect and be able to
solve what for them is a
serious health issue.
"Even if I’m 90 by the
time the operation is
approved, I’ll do it if
I’m still alive," said
Juani, who was
officially diagnosed as
a female-to-male
transsexual back in
1972. "I would ask the
doctors to complete the
surgery even if I die on
the operating table, so
that I could be in death
what I could not be in
life."
A pamphlet put out by
CENESEX states that
transsexualism is a term
created by medical
science to define those
people who, from early
childhood and throughout
their lives, identify
strongly with the gender
opposite to the one they
were assigned at birth.
Since its creation as a
working group in 1979,
the National Commission
for Integral Care of
Transsexual People has
received 92 applications
and has confirmed the
diagnosis of 27
transsexuals, two
transvestites and two
effeminate male
homosexuals, according
to "La transexualidad en
Cuba" (Transsexualism in
Cuba), a book published
by CENESEX in May.
Of the 27 diagnosed
transsexuals, 19 hope to
undergo surgery. The
other eight do not, but
they want to legally
change their gender
identity. So far, 13
have been able to change
their names and replace
the photo on their
identity cards, and
seven are waiting for
approval of the process
by the Justice Ministry.
Only two of the 27 are
female-to-male
transgender persons, and
the statistics include
the male-to-female
transsexual who
underwent surgery in
1988 and has lived as a
woman since then.
More than half of them
live in Havana, and they
range in age from 31 to
40. Most are white, only
five completed secondary
school, and eight have
been accepted as members
of the Cuban Women’s
Federation (FMC), the
only women’s association
in this Caribbean island
nation.
"We see transsexualism
as a special reality
that requires a special
response from society,"
said Castro, who pointed
out that many
transsexuals drop out of
school because of
rejection by society and
the incomprehension they
face in the classroom,
from other students and
their families, and from
teachers as well.
Stepped-up efforts to
train teachers and to
promote
awareness-raising
strategies on sexual
diversity in the media
are among CENESEX’s
current priorities, as
it awaits passage of a
proposed reform of
Cuba’s Family Code.
The reformed Family Code
would stipulate that the
family has the
responsibility and duty
to accept and care for
all of its members,
regardless of their
gender identity or
sexual orientation. It
would also recognise the
same civil, patrimonial,
inheritance and housing
rights for homosexual
and heterosexual
couples, while opening
the door for legal
recognition of same-sex
civil unions.
In addition, CENESEX is
working on the
implementation of a
National Strategy of
Care for Transsexuals,
involving the ministries
of public health,
education, higher
education, labour and
social security, the
interior and justice,
the Supreme Court, and
the Attorney General’s
Office.
"We have also presented
the arguments for a
decree law on gender
identity that would
legally establish that a
sex reassignment
operation is not
necessary for obtaining
a change of identity, in
the case of diagnosed
transsexuals. That would
basically amount to
social recognition of
their identity," said
Castro.
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