A Long Way from Mariel: Gay Marielitos and their story

[Quetzal]

A Long Way from Mariel

The first time the Cuban government detained Elio Poblador, he was 15 and accused of being close to someone involved in a clandestine sex party. The army drafted him two years later. He served a few months until the Castro regime jailed him for pederasty -- as it defined homosexual acts.

For two years, Poblador went from one prison to another, suffering humiliation and physical abuse. Eventually, the regime sent him to a special farm for ''queers,'' where he would be ''re-educated.'' He wasn't allowed to study at a university, so he did whatever jobs he could get in Cuba.

''To be gay was a crime in Cuba, because it was contrary to what Fidel wanted to do with the New Man. We were a social burden,'' said Poblador, now 55 and living in Miami. ``Stigmatized like that, I wanted to kill myself. I wanted to go away forever.''

To escape the repressive regime, Poblador and thousands of other gay men and lesbians -- plus some heterosexuals who lied about their orientation in order to be expelled from the country -- left Cuba on the 1980 Mariel boatlift. Some would later perish of AIDS, a malady that had yet to be identified when they first reached a country where they felt free to be themselves. Many others made new lives for themselves, living openly as gay men and women.

more...

http://www.thestate.com/mld/miamiherald/living/people/gay_lesbian/11459396.htm?source=rss&channel=miamiherald_gay_lesbian

[comsymp]

1. Thanks so much for posting this!

I was in High School when the boatlift occurred and have only vague (now, historic, I guess) recollections of it. Never knew that there was a G/L component to the story.

Very interesting - looks like I've got some reading to catch up on.

[mitchtv]

2. my friend sponsored on

we all tried to help out. Some did well immediately, some struggled. I often think about them.