With almost 67% of the vote in favour, Cuba passed the Family Law reform that legalized same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption of children, as well as establishing measures to protect women in cases of gender-based violence and surrogacy.
Alina Balseiro, head of the National Electoral Council (CEN), said that some schools in the three provinces had not yet completed the census, but the results were described as “valid and irreversible”.
About 24,000 electoral colleges were open on Sunday (25), and more than eight million Cubans were called to the polls, but around 6.2 million voted, equivalent to 74.01%.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and his wife Lis Cuesta voted 50 minutes after polling stations opened at a high school in Havana. The process ended at 7:00 pm local time, but the Electoral Commission extended the opening for another hour in eight provinces due to the difficulties caused by the rains caused by Hurricane Ian.
The country tried to introduce same-sex marriage into the 2019 Constitution, but the government backed off in the face of criticism from the Catholic and Evangelical Churches. Same-sex marriage is allowed in many Latin American countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Uruguay.
With a “yes” victory in the referendum, the new Cuban Family Law was approved and will replace the previous one from 1975. The new text promotes same-sex marriages and adoptions for same-sex couples. It also regulates surrogacy and brings news on the fight against gender-based violence as well as the ban on child marriage.
source: Noticias
