Cuba invited its emigrants this Friday to participate via the Internet in the debates between next February and April on the draft of the new Family Code, which seeks to legalize gay marriage.
“Nationals residing in more than 140 countries will be able to participate in the debate on the legal text by sending opinions to the website Nation and Emigration“, announced the general director of Consular Affairs and Cuban Residents Abroad, Ernesto Soberón, during a live broadcast on the Facebook page of the Cuban Foreign Ministry.
Soberón specified that, through this website, “all Cubans, wherever they are, will be able to access and convey their criteria and opinions in relation to the code,” which allows the same-sex marriage and their adoption.
On the island, the “popular consultation (debates)” on the new Family Code will take place from February 1 to April 30.
However, Soberón did not refer to the possibility that, beyond contributing ideas about the new code, the emigrants could participate in the referendum to which the new code will be submitted on a date this year that has not yet been announced.
On Twitter, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez highlighted this Friday that the initiative “will be an opportunity for Cubans residing abroad participate and enrich this exalting norm”. “We count on your proposals and opinions to continue strengthening our work of social justice”, he pointed out.
The authorities tried to incorporate the issue of same-sex marriage into the Constitution approved in 2019, but the strong rejection it generated in evangelical churches and other social sectors caused its discussion to be postponed.
Cuban émigrés participated online in the debates prior to the approval of the new Constitution. According to Soberón, “opinions were received from more than 120 countries, 40% of which were included in the final text.”
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