PUBLISHED IN THE NEWSPAPER LE DEVOIR AND THE MAGAZINE URBANIA - In Cuba, the transsexual community is persecuted by authorities but resistance is strong in the city of Santa Clara. Here the arts are serving the cause of social integration at a theatre called “El Mejunje”.

Santa Clara – Backstage at “El Mejunje” (The Blend), Juanita, 46 years old, is putting final touches on her friend Laura’s make-up as Laura prepares to go on stage for her Edith Piaf impersonation.  She takes a moment to recall her youth, painful memories that are necessary to an understanding of the evolution of the rights of sexual minorities under the Cuban regime: “Up until the beginning of this decade, wearing a dress like we’re doing tonight was very dangerous.  The government locked homosexuals in mental hospitals, and I’ve been there myself, a few times.  They’ve been injecting me with male hormones to try and change my sexual orientation since I was fifteen years old.”

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