The work done by this center has contributed to changes in attitudes and laws,
and the credit for the fact that the AIDS problem has not been handled with a
homophobic outlook is largely attributed to this endeavor." (Quarterly
publication of the Swedish-Cuban Association)
Bjorklund noted: "Before the Center for Sexual Education (CNES) started its
work, sexual education was a practically unknown phenomenon in Cuba, as in the
rest of Latin America, where the stand and the attitude of the Catholic Church
has continued to curb any attempted change. In this light, Cuba's sexual
education is groundbreaking."
Cuban women led the way forward.
Dr. Celestino Álvarez Lajonchere, then-director of the National Institute of
Sex Education in Havana, recalled in a December 1986 interview: "In 1974, the
Federation of Cuban Women has already insisted that sex education had to be
done. They had been working on this since the early 1960s." (International
Journal of Health Services, Vol. 18, No. 2, 1988)
The interview with Álvarez-known on the island as "Tino"-was conducted with
Elizabeth Fee, Joan Furman-Seaborg and Ross Conner. Margaret Gilpin arranged
the interview and did the translation.
In the interview, Álvarez stressed: "The First Party Congress reviewed all of
the things that the Federation has asked for and converted them into a
political directive. This is the only country in the world where the people who
have suffered from the consequences of ignorance, principally women and young
people, did not have to spend one minute to convince the highest levels of
leadership of the country that something had to be done. On the contrary, the
political leadership was always worried that they weren't doing enough of what
the women expected them to do. I am convinced that that doesn't happen in any
other country in the world. I think that's important-very important."
Álvarez continued: "The First Party Congress of 1975 agreed on the declaration
of the complete and absolute equality of women. The elaboration of that
declaration included the need to organize a system of sex education. They
needed a plan to create, for example, illustrated texts, and educational
materials for the population. The National Assembly of People's Power then
created a permanent commission. Within that commission they created a working
group, the National Institute of Sex Education. The structure is very
important. I don't think that in any country in the world, including the
socialist world, does this kind of structure exist, except here."
He added, "With this kind of task, to create a national plan, you can't leave
it in the hands of one person or a group of people or to one organization; it
has to be done throughout the entire society."
One of the first suggestions the Ministry of Education made was to begin
elementary sex education from the earliest years. But Cuba was still trying to
build enough schools and train enough teachers to meet the educational needs of
the population. Alvarez said his youngest child's teachers at that time in
secondary school in the countryside were just two or three years older than
their students.
"It was difficult for the Ministry of Education under these circumstances," he
stated, "to assume responsibility for a national program in sex education.
"The first task was to prepare some texts on the subject, because there weren't
any."
Ground-breaking first publication
Álvarez explained, "We decided to make a selection from the most highly
developed socialist country in this area, East Germany, and we selected the
books that we thought would best cover our needs."
The first ground-breaking publication in Cuba was Sigfried Schnabl's "The
Intimate Life of Males and Females" (El hombre y la mujer en la intimidad). The
book had been published first in the German Democratic Republic-the East German
workers' state-in 1978.
Bjorklund wrote that Sigfried Schnabl's book, which was "translated and edited
in Cuba in 1979, clearly states that 'homosexuals should be granted equal
rights, respect and recognition, and that any kind of social discrimination is
reprehensible.' This book served as guidance for the work of CNES and at
pedagogical colleges."
In their article in the Summer 1980 Gay Insurgent, Stephen J. Risch and
Randolph E. Wills noted, "In fact it was the Women's Federation which saw the
book as so important that it successfully lobbied for its publication
considerably ahead of schedule (since there are limited resources for
publishing books in Cuba, finished manuscripts must wait in line to be
published)."
Álvarez remembers that the subject was so popular: "We sold it in a special way
to try and guarantee that it would get into the hands of doctors, other health
personnel and teachers. We sold it at about 5 pesos, but in addition, the buyer
had to have a paper signed by me saying that he or she had the right to buy the
book. Otherwise, the books would have disappeared from the bookstores within
two hours."
The law against same-sex love was removed the same year that the book was
published in Cuba-almost a quarter century before the U.S. government followed
suit under pressure from a mass lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans movement.
A subsequent publication, "Are You Beginning to Think about Love?" translated
and edited in Cuba in 1981, "was more ambivalent," wrote Bjorklund. "It was
intended for a broad audience and argued that homosexuals have the same ability
to function in society as other people, but that they can never be as happy as
married people. Mónika Krause, a leading expert at CNES, admitted that this was
a response to criticism against the first edition of Schnabl's book, for being
too positive towards homosexuality. A second edition of Schnabl's book,
intended to be printed in 250,000 copies, although delayed because of the
economic crisis, however, persisted, stressing that sexual violation of minors
has no causal relationship to sexual orientation, dismissing the theories of
seduction into homosexuality, and emphasizing that since nobody is responsible
for his or her sexual orientation, homosexuals must be just as respected as
heterosexuals."
Álvarez said the next step was a paperback entitled "When your child asks you"
(Cuando tu hijo te pregunta), first printed in 1980. It was offered for public
sale with a book aimed at sex education for children aged 9 to 12. "We did
simple illustrations showing the process of reproduction. This was the best way
to start trying to break the prejudices of the population," he stated. "We were
trying to tell parents that they didn't have any alternative, they had to tell
children about these things, because their kids were going to deal with them
for better or for worse. It was up to the parents to answer their kids'
questions and they needed to know how to do that."
A fourth publication, "Thinking about love?" (¿Piensas ya en el amor?), was
designed for teenagers. Álvarez explained: "This book covers sexually
transmitted diseases and discusses some of the emotional aspects of how
children become adults and what adult relations are all about. It deals with
some of the problems that have to do with being in love, and also talks about
contraception."
Yet another book was written for children from 3 to 7 years old, entitled
"Mama, papa and me" (Mamá, papá, y yo). Álvarez said, "It was the only one that
didn't sell out immediately, the way all the rest of them did, and we think
that's a sign of some resistance to our work in the population."
In 1981, the Cuban Ministry of Culture produced a publication titled "In
Defense of Love" that stated homosexuality was a variant of human sexuality.
Cuba-solidarity.org.uk concluded that the book "argued that homophobic bigotry
was an unacceptable attitude inherited by the Revolution and that all sanctions
against gays should be opposed."
This ground-breaking work on sex education, in which Cuban women played such a
leadership role, helped pave the road for a scientific and humane approach to
the AIDS epidemic that put the imperialist countries to shame.
Lavender & Red, 1970's Cuba
