Analysis of Gender and Sexuality Transformation and Gang Wars in Cuba

This essay delves into the intricate relationship between the transformation of gender and sexuality and the emergence of gang wars in Cuba. It begins by outlining the historical oppression faced by the LGBTQ+ community, including political suppression and societal discrimination rooted in religious norms, which led to violence and the denial of human rights. The essay then analyzes the interpersonal discourse, highlighting the challenges faced by the community in the 21st century, such as the use of gay men to promote tourism and the internal struggles within the community. Furthermore, the essay explores the rise of violent gangs in Guatemala, tracing their origins to historical, political, and economic factors, including youth struggles, oppression, and the breakdown of the legal and financial systems. The author emphasizes the need for the government to address the root causes of gang violence through job creation, education, and a reformed legal system, rather than relying solely on military control. The essay draws on the works of Noelle and Levenson to provide a comprehensive analysis of these complex social issues.

Running Head: TRANSFORMATION OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY AND EMERGING
GANG WARS IN CUBA
Transformation of Gender and sexuality and Emerging Gang Wars in Cuba
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

1
TRANSFORMATION OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY AND EMERGING GANG WARS
IN CUBA
Introduction
The history of the LGBTQ community in Cuba has always been filled with political
oppression and suppression. The effeminate qualities were considered to be a health issue for
which they were sent for treatment in rehabilitation centers and more so over to stop them from
infecting other healthy/straight men. This was seen as a psychological path taken to curb the
acceptance of gay men in society. Cuban young gay men who accepted their sexuality were
condemned and prosecuted under the law as being gay was considered illegal. It leads to
unspeakable violence and homosexuality was taken as the basis of the suspension of human
rights. The treatment was harsher due to the religious norms of the Cuban population who
supported the government’s treatment due to the similarity in their ideology. Noelle has shifted
the narrative from the community-based study of the Cuba history and has provided with on-the-
street view of the gay community and their way of life which is the full discourse of how the
history of prolonged suppression and sufferings have led to the formation of the now wholly
different structure and face of LGBTG community of the nation. The paper will analyze the
interpersonal discourse in the narrative of Noelle, which shows the political shifts and the
challenges faced by the community in the 21st century Cuba.
Gender Struggle in Cuba
The LGBTQ community which art first started with the men showing feminine
characteristics and an inclination towards the same-sex individual, though readily rejected were
used and incorporated into prostitution and the complete process is shown to be the
disintegration of the trust in them on the concept of love. The relationship soon turned into a pure
gratification of physical and sexual need and the search for the idea of love became a futile
attempt in the streets. The challenges have been internalized in the society with the use of gay
men to promote tourism.
The conditions of gay men in the post-revolution period are described by Noelle as the
period of toleration and not acceptance which was vivid in the respondent's story who
accompanied her throughout her stay and her research. In the very first chapter, the respondent
answers to Noelle’s question that he came to the suburb of Havana because he had needs- food
and clothes. He identified himself as bisexual but was adamant on accepting the term ‘jinetero’
because he did not identify himself with the straight men exploiting gay men for money (Stout,

2
TRANSFORMATION OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY AND EMERGING GANG WARS
IN CUBA
2014). This articulates and lays bare one of the most significant challenge faced by the
community in Cuba. They are stripped off their self-respect by men who believe they are
superior to them simply because they are in a closet and could muster the courage to come out.
Homophobia was not merely the result of Cuba’s internal policies and ideologies but also
international relation with the Soviet Union which was hostile towards the gay community of
Cuba. The Communist Party who were eager to maintain the newly formed cordial relationship
declared the sexual deviation as a revolution against nation and they were expelled from the
party and were kept in camps illegally without any record (Stout, 2014). They were deemed not
fit to represent their country, leading to the institutionalization of homophobia.
It was only after the 1980s that there was a respite for the community and the Public
Orientation Law was stripped off with which the police was given the idea of leaving the
community to lead their lives in peace. This shows the legalization of the harassment endowed
by the police force on the community these past decades. The writers who were detained in the
camps were released and only after that we see the emergence of literature with gay subjects.
Even after these changes, they had to bear the brunt of the society for they were still considered
to be ill and carrying contagious disease. This improved a little with the declaration from the
National commission that they were normal and healthy people with a different set of sexual
orientation and that people need to be educated on that front to understand those (Stout, 2014).
The history of the constant suppression and struggle of the gay community in Cuba has
seen significant changes in recent times but with time, their challenges have also thickened.
Their identity is taken to be the basis of the discrimination vastly seen in the healthcare sector,
where they are not given equal treatment as the straight population. Noelle, however, brings to us
the unofficial version of Havana which is absent from the official records (Stout, 2014). The
records of the acceptance of the gay and queer community are shown to be evidently present and
yet most of the respondent of the book shows the presence of prostitution in the suburbs and they
direct the conversation towards the facts of unemployment and poverty due to which it is still
harboring the community. Post-Soviet Cuba faced the problem of the emotional turmoil in the
gay population of the loss of the boundary between true love and intimacy.

3
TRANSFORMATION OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY AND EMERGING GANG WARS
IN CUBA
The emergence of Violent gangs in Guatemala
Guatemala was once viewed as the center of modernity and bright prospective future
predicted by the reformists in the late nineteenth century. The rise of the gangs like Maras and
the vast drug cartels have been regarded as the factors behind the violence but Levenson’s
writings on gangs are rooted from the historical, political and economic context. The history of
the torture and struggle of the youth in the 1800s and 1900s is mainly reiterated in the book to
find the cause of the reason for violence so prevalent now (Levenson, 2013). The author’s
narrative shows that now youth who were interviewed for the book mainly joined the gangs
simply to have fun and employment.
The choice of the youth to turn towards violence is attributed to constant struggle,
oppression, suffering and death which turned it into one of the poorest city in the continent. The
start can be traced back to the first challenge by the youth who were then university students and
had stood against the public school system which represented the dominance of the military
regime. Later thousands of university students joined the cause to fight for the peasants and
workers. Their demand was for a Guatemala renewed and washed off the poverty and a better
life which was left to deal with it alone. The infamous gang first came into light when the student
union was protesting hike in bus fare and it was propelled by the media into the formation of a
highly violent gang which can disrupt the discipline of the society (Levenson, 2013). But Maras
were a group who connected themselves to the poor and fought for their rights. It was only until
the late 1990s, they diverted from the path, and the face of the gang changed.
They were now associated with the same tyranny they were first standing against but
Levenson directs the roots of the deviation in the constant military campaigns which showed a
continuous assault on the poor where the army molested, murdered and looted the poor youth in
the name of legal procedures and destruction and poverty followed them wherever they went. It
can be sourced from the fact that the city went through an economic struggle for the past few
decades which has caused a complete collapse of the financial system and the legal system was
in a full breakdown. The employment of the youth was a huge factor as there were no jobs apart
from the laborious ones where they were exploited for not enough wage to last a day. Most
significantly, the brutality of the military campaigns broke their trust in any kind of reformation
that can come (Levenson, 2013). The youths saw the gangs as the only resort to power where

4
TRANSFORMATION OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY AND EMERGING GANG WARS
IN CUBA
they were armed to at least be able to defend themselves. The drug market came as a surprise for
them as it provided them with another mode of employment which weaponized them with the
most potent weapon- wealth, which they have been struggling with in abundance.
The priority of the government should be to understand the reason and the place they
come from and try to solve the most fundamental problems of the city. In contrast to the popular
belief that the best way out of the situation is the complete military control of the area and zero
tolerance and total abolition of the gang. The government has to make sure that the job and
education opportunity does not lack in the city and the legal system does precisely what they are
supposed as opposite to what the history of the place states.

5
TRANSFORMATION OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY AND EMERGING GANG WARS
IN CUBA
References
Levenson, D. T. (2013). Adiós niño: The gangs of Guatemala City and the politics of death.
Duke University Press.
Stout, N. M. (2014). After love: Queer intimacy and erotic economies in post-Soviet Cuba. Duke
University Press.