In today鈥檚 Cuba, can churches and LGBTQ rights each find path forward?
| Havana
John Wesley rides his horse through the Cuban countryside, beneath tall palm trees and mountains so green they look purple. He holds his reins in one hand and his Bible in the other.
But the painted portrait hanging in the Rev. Enoel Gutierrez鈥檚 office depicts a scene that never happened. There is no record that Wesley, the 18th century Methodist leader, ever came to Cuba, or anywhere else in the Caribbean听鈥� though he traveled so much to preach that it鈥檚 said he could have circled the Earth 10 times.
Still, Mr. Gutierrez is determined to bring Wesley to his island nation. To bring the painting he commissioned from his imagination to life.
Why We Wrote This
In post-Castro Cuba, how much room is there for dissent? Conservative 海角大神s are one group testing the boundaries.
Religious diversity and participation have flourished in Cuba since the country loosened restrictions over the past three decades, particularly among evangelical churches. But it鈥檚 more than sermons. Conservative 海角大神ity has become a political force to be reckoned with, in a country whose ruling Communist Party has traditionally allowed next to no dissent. In communities with tight media controls and limited internet access, religious leaders are uniquely positioned to shape opposition in ways the government hasn鈥檛 seen in decades, analysts say.
鈥淎s a 海角大神, we are responsible for the whole education of the person,鈥� says Mr. Gutierrez, sitting on a couch beneath the Wesley painting in his office at the Methodist seminary in central Havana. 鈥淲e need to go to the people and help the people see the reality of the country, the reality of the politics, because many people don鈥檛 have access to that information.鈥�
Beyond Roman Catholicism, which has dominated religious life here for centuries, other faiths鈥� numbers are small but quickly growing. And Evangelicals鈥� outsize influence was on prominent display last year, ahead of a referendum on Cuba鈥檚 new constitution, as they targeted an article legalizing same-sex marriage.
In September, for example, dozens of evangelical leaders published a letter of opposition. One week before the vote, more than 100 heterosexual couples wearing their wedding clothes , a central roadway along the Havana coast.
The, ushering in changes such as expanded private property rights and presidential term limits while maintaining the one-party system and centrally planned economy. But the article proposing to redefine marriage as a union 鈥渂etween two people鈥� was nixed before the vote. The new constitution does, however, ban discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
Members of Cuba鈥檚 LGBTQ community, who have seen acceptance grow significantly in the past few decades, saw their hopes for marriage postponed. Evangelicals managed to tap into a larger anti-same-sex marriage sentiment that pervades much of Latin America, say experts, while testing how much space there is for public dissent.听
鈥淚t is not an exception; homophobia is present in the Latin culture, as well as the patriarchal culture of Cuba. Patriarchal culture has always favored heterosexuality as the positive norm. ... Before English and Spanish colonialism in the Americas, native peoples recognized that a person could have 鈥榯wo spirits,鈥� meaning that they possessed masculine and feminine attributes, and that was not a problem,鈥� says Teresa de Jes煤s,听coordinator at the National Center for Sexual Education. Patriarchal ideas are passed from one generation to another within families, she adds, and one can鈥檛 change culture from one day to the next.
Weeks after the vote, churches across Havana still kept posters taped to their doors of four stick figures holding hands (a man and a woman with their two children) and the phrase 鈥淚 am in favor of the original design.鈥�
鈥淛ohn Wesley said without social holiness, we have no personal holiness,鈥� says Mr. Gutierrez. 鈥淗oliness cannot be [just] inside these walls.鈥�
Living faith out loud
Hundreds of congregants raise their hands in the air at a Saturday morning service at Iglesia Metodista de Marianao in southwest Havana, shaking with enthusiasm as Pastor Leidy Guerra speaks in a rhythmic chant. Don鈥檛 just read the Bible, says Ms. Guerra, but really live it. Even when the odds seem too great to overcome.
When the service ends, the church erupts in kisses. Cubans greet each other with an audible kiss on one cheek 鈥� and the more kisses, the more meaningful the greeting. Kisses for Ms. Guerra and Danielle Byerly, a visiting missionary from Asheboro, North Carolina, who worked with the church in 2017 and 2018, echo throughout the church.
During Ms. Guerra鈥檚 four years as a pastor, the congregation has grown by several hundred to about 3,000 today. Many of the new members have been women and about 40% are under 30. They are exhausted, she says, from daily struggles such as feeding their families.
鈥淐uba is not the same as it was 20 years ago,鈥� says Ms. Guerra. 鈥淧eople are now more thirsty. They need a solution.鈥�
But this desperation has fostered a distinct religious passion in Cuba, says Ms. Byerly, whose church in North Carolina is one of many United States congregations that have partnered with Cuban counterparts over the past few years.
鈥淚n the U.S., if you want something you can go work for it,鈥� says Ms. Byerly. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 do that here, so here you need that hope in God.鈥�
Part of congregations鈥� popularity is practical: They have spread their reach into communities through benefits that are common elsewhere 鈥� such as cooking meals for older people or tutoring the young 鈥� but new to Cubans.
鈥淣ow [the church] is not just a place for praying,鈥� says Arturo Lopez-Levy, a political scientist at New York University. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a place for community.鈥�
When a deadly tornado ripped through Cuba in January, for example, churches responded immediately. Alain Gonzalez, 18, who joined University Methodist Church in Havana鈥檚 Vedado neighborhood a few years ago, says congregants stayed after services to fill trash bags with clothes and food for tornado victims.
Mr. Gonzalez, idling on the steps of his church waiting for an evening service to begin, pulls his cellphone from his pocket and thumbs through photographs. He stops on one of a mound of trash bags that seems taller than he is.
鈥淟ook at what we did,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 only from the collection at one service.鈥�
鈥楢 different way to be saved鈥�
This kind of public activity was long forbidden to Cuba鈥檚 churches. Shortly after seizing power in 1959, Fidel Castro declared Cuba an atheist state. He and shipped boats of priests overseas. But after the fall of the Soviet Union set off an economic crisis, as many Cubans struggled for basic necessities, Castro softened his ban on religion and permitted believers to join the Communist Party.
When Ra煤l Castro took over the presidency from his brother in 2008, religion took another leap forward on the island. Pews began to fill up. In 2015, Mr. Castro himself talked about returning to the Catholic Church, and Pope Francis played in talks between Cuba and the Obama administration. Religious practice is still tightly controlled, however, with government signoff required for new churches and public gatherings.
The revival has had noticeable breadth. Santer铆a, a tradition that first developed among African slaves brought to Cuba, is now practiced more openly. The Jewish community, which almost completely emigrated during the Castro years, ; the island鈥檚 Muslim community has increased.
And while found that only 7 percent of the country identified as evangelical or Protestant, totaling , the pace of growth is notable. About 20 Methodist churches open annually, says Mr. Gutierrez, and he hopes to soon have at least one in every Cuban city. Established congregations are growing, too.
鈥淎ll the people in Cuba had received an education not to believe,鈥� says Mr. Gutierrez. 鈥淏ut the people need hope; they need to see a different future for their life. They see a different way to be saved.鈥�
Evangelical churches are not the only ones testing the waters of dissent. Take the Rev. Jos茅 Conrado Rodr铆guez, one of Cuba鈥檚 most outspoken priests, who has published open letters of opposition to both Castros. Not so coincidentally, the local government鈥檚 band practices loudly next door to Mr. Conrado鈥檚 service, says his friend Silvia Pedraza, a sociology professor and Cuba expert at the University of Michigan.
鈥淪ome priests and ministers have taken huge risks for a long time with their criticisms,鈥� says Professor Pedraza. 鈥淭here are plenty [of priests] who say, 鈥極ur religious life has to play into how we live, and how we live is politics.鈥欌��
鈥淭he church has a different vision of life and human rights than the government does,鈥� she adds.
Cautious change post-Castro
The government鈥檚 vision may be changing. In 2018, Miguel D铆az-Canel became the country鈥檚 first non-Castro president in more than 40 years. Three months later, the government approved a new constitution to replace the 1976 version. And then, it again did something surprising: It convened 鈥減opular consultations鈥� across the country to allow citizen input, which produced of suggestions.
Mr. D铆az-Canel has made a responsive government his signature policy issue because he understands that he needs to build support, especially as the economy stalls, says William LeoGrande, a professor of government at American University in Washington.
鈥淒铆az-Canel鈥檚 strategy is to build legitimacy by showing that his government is open to hearing what people think and what people need,鈥� says Professor LeoGrande. 鈥淭he constitutional process itself gave people a publicly approved venue or platform to articulate their views, and the church really took advantage of that.鈥�
It鈥檚 not a dramatic turn toward democracy. More than were arrested during the first half of 2018, according to Human Rights Watch. Even in the privacy of their own homes, many Cubans avoid talking politics听鈥� making opposition to the proposed constitution even more notable. During the 鈥減ublic consultations鈥� period, the marriage section was the most discussed issue, , with most comments against amending the section.
鈥淲e need to say something is right or wrong according to the Bible,鈥� says Leslie Quesada, the pastor at Primera Iglesia Evang茅lica Los Pinos Nuevos in central Havana, one of the religious leaders who signed the September protest letter. 鈥淚f we want to start helping our country, we need to start thinking in a biblical way.鈥�
But if Evangelicals are finding their voice, so is Cuba鈥檚 LGBTQ community. During the early years of the revolution, many gay Cubans were fired from their jobs or sent to labor camps, and homosexuality was illegal until听1979. More recent progress is often credited to Mariela Castro, daughter of Ra煤l. She established听鈥� and now directs听鈥� the National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX) and has led an annual march against homophobia and transphobia for more than a decade. (In May, the government suddenly canceled the 2019 march, though about 100 marchers , without CENESEX support.)
But in December, Cuba鈥檚 National Assembly that the new constitution would exclude the explicit provision for same-sex marriage. Neither the 1976 definition of 鈥渂etween one man and one woman鈥� was included, nor the floated definition of a union 鈥渂etween two people.鈥�
Even so, when it came time for the referendum, almost 14% of voters opposed ratification or left the ballot blank, and 15% of Cubans stayed home from the polls. When the 1976 constitution was ratified, by contrast, , and just 1% stayed home.
The government听has announced plans to explicitly define marriage in the next two years, when it revises a national law covering marriage, divorce, and child care via another referendum.
鈥淭hey kicked the can down the road to not put the referendum at risk,鈥� says Professor LeoGrande. 鈥淢aybe they can come up with some language to make everyone happy, but I don鈥檛 think so. ... It will be a really interesting test of how far this new [political] tolerance is going to reach.鈥�
Las familias
To Ms. de Jes煤s, the new constitution represents more than the government鈥檚 tolerance for political opposition.
Even in its revised version, the new constitution signals a tolerance of LGBTQ people that she has worked toward for decades. Today, she is a coordinator at CENESEX, founded by Ms. Castro. It鈥檚 still a victory, says Ms. de Jes煤s, who notes that as a lesbian she has faced discrimination all her life听鈥� discrimination now outlawed under the new constitution.
鈥淚 am 58 years old, and now is the first time in all my life that I might have all my rights,鈥� she says, quickly wiping away tears. 鈥淚鈥檓 very proud that in my country they鈥檙e making something like this.鈥�
The biggest difference, she says as her eyes light up with a sneaky twinkle, is Chapter 3 of the constitution. In the 1976 version, In this year鈥檚 constitution, ,鈥� which some interpret to mean there are many types of 鈥渓egitimate鈥� families. Advocates say they are confident the upcoming family-code revision will solidify same-sex couples鈥� right to marry.
On the back porch of her apartment, as her two cats jump between a forest of potted plants, she looks at her girlfriend of 36 years in the room next door.
It鈥檚 taken only a few letters for them to start planning their wedding. Las familias.
