Cuba Gay Pride Parade Apparently Suppressed

Towleroad has the first reports of a government crackdown of a scheduled June 25th gay pride parade in Havana, Cuba.

According to Ambiente, The Cuban Commission on Human Rights for people with HIV and Sexual Races, the Cuban League against AIDS, Elena Mederos Foundation, The Foundation LGTB Reinaldo Arenas in Memoriam, Elena Mederos Foundation, the Cuban Movement for Gay Liberation, the Havana Transsexual Collective, Havana LGTB Cultural Center and the Organization of Gay Political Presidio Reinaldo Arenas were all expected to participate in the march."

It was to begin in the "Don Quixote" park in the neighborhood of Vedado and march to the Ministry of Justice "with the goal of delivering their demands to the Castro government," according to Ambiente. Demands included the cessation of violence and repression against Cuban homosexuals, and an apology to the Cuban people for the introduction in the 60's of UMAP concentration camps (Military Units to Aid Production) that were created by the dictator Fidel Castro, to suppress and punish homosexuals and the religious youth who opposed his Marxist ideology.

The latest news comes from a Miami Herald story which confirms that Cuban gay activists were detained in an attempt to prevent the gay rights parade from happening.