Gay Accommodation in Havana Cuba

[GK2005]

Can anyone recommend and give me details of any gay guest houses or hotels in Havana? I have looked online but can not find anything.

[Buenchico]

It's extremely unlikely that you'll find gay accommodation in Cuba being openly advertised. This is from an article by Peter Tatchell:
"Today, the legal status of lesbian and gay people in Cuba is still ambiguous. Amnesty International regards the lack of clear, categorical civil rights for homosexuals as being tantamount to illegalisation.

While the 1979 penal code formally decriminalised homosexuality, gay behaviour causing a "public scandal" can be punished by up to twelve months' jail. This vague law, which is open to wide interpretation, has often been used to arrest gay men merely because they happen to be effeminate and flamboyant.

Discreet open-air cruising in public squares and parks is nowadays mostly tolerated, although often kept under police surveillance. Most gay bars are semi-legal private house parties and are subject to periodic police raids. In 1997, Havana's biggest gay bar, El Periquiton, was closed down by the police. One organiser of an unofficial gay bar, Lorenzo, confides: "The police can knock the door down at any moment and arrest everyone here ... instead of sending you to jail, these days they just fine you." A typical fine for those who run gay bars from their homes or courtyards is about 1,500 pesos, which is nearly seven months' wages. The police also usually confiscate the lights, sound systems and record collections.

Homosexuals are still deemed unfit to join the ruling Communist Party, because being gay is supposedly contrary to communist ethics. This can have an adverse impact on a person's professional career in a society where all senior appointments depend on party membership.

Lesbian and gay newspapers and organisations are not permitted. The Cuban Association of Gays and Lesbians, formed in 1994, was suppressed in 1997 and its members arrested. Gay Cuba? Not yet!"

Source: http://

[Buenchico]

Oops! I've been edited! (That link still seems to work OK though).

Chris

[GK2005]

Thanks Buenchico and In A Pickle

My research around the internet lead me to the same information you gave me but thanks for confirming my thoughts. I noticed many links have been disabled, it seems to be the Cuban Governments way of controlling it.

I checked several Gay travel publications also and none seem to have any great detail on Cuba.

The only accommodation I found was the one you recomment In A Pickle

[GK2005]

Am going there next week, we have accommodation booked for the duration in a resort but we want to spend a few days exploring beautiful old world Havana.

Thanks again Buenchico and In A Pickle

[jno]

they're quite strongly, though inconsistently, anti-gay there; dates from the days before the revolution when American gays used the country as a sort of floating offshore brothel, I believe.