Cuba has legalized same-sex marriage after Cubans voted in favor of a family code that increased protections for minorities on the island.
The country’s Nationa Electoral Council said 74.1% of those eligible to vote in Sunday’s national referendum had turned out to cast their ballot. With 94% of the votes counted as of 9 am ET on Monday morning, 3,936,790 had voted in favor and 1,950,090 against – signaling an overwhelming support for the new law.
The new family code extends greater protection to women, children and the elderly, as well as allowing LGBTQ couples to marry and adopt children.
For decades, LGBTQ people in Cuba faced official discrimination on the communist-run island. In the early 1960’s, after Fidel Castro took power, many gay people were sent to government work camps alongside political dissidents.
The referendum faced stiff opposition from the country’s evangelical community, which had openly advocated against approving the family code. But the law was passed thanks to a massive voter turnout and the Cuban government’s full court press in favor of the new family code across state-run media.
Government officials said the new code is proof the island’s now more than six-decades-old-revolution is capable of adapting to the times.
Read more at Time Magazine.
