How two Cuban migrants overcame homophobia and political discrimination.
Ernesto and Carlos (*) seek freedom. All they want is something that most of us take for granted: acceptance. In Cuba, their fundamental right to have the social space to live with dignity was stolen from them by state security officers. The love Ernesto and Carlos feel for each other is unacceptable to the orthodoxy of a government that criminalizes their gender identity.
Against the headwinds of homophobia, Ernesto and Carlos decided to build a home together on the coast of Cojimar in Havana. For a time, they were happy. But the country was waking from its repressive slumber. Young people were losing their fear of speaking about politics, and social media revealed the unimaginable luxuries and whereabouts of the entrenched ruling elite in Cuba. The unthinkable happened on July 11th, 2021: Young people from the poorest neighborhoods took to the streets, demanding freedom. Ernesto was one of the faces in the crowd.
The political repression that followed was unprecedented in the hemisphere. State security agents began abducting thousands of the young people involved. Summary and mass trials handed out decades-long sentences to 1106 political prisoners, including 29 boys and one girl. Ernesto was on their list. Political vengeance was soon at his doorstep.
One afternoon in October 2021, four State Security officers knocked on Ernesto and Carlos’s door. A red-lettered sign reading “C1940” had disturbed the communist peace, referring to the restoration of the 1940 constitution in Cuba. The state security dogs allegedly tracked the scent to their house. Their peace would no longer last.
State Security agents began visiting the young couple regularly. They would enter the house, search their home, and disturb their privacy with questions like, “How do two men sleep here if there’s only one bed?” One day, a red can of paint, identical to the one used in the C1940 signs, appeared in their yard. Another day, two thieves broke into the house and stole only their phones. The government’s vendetta was in full swing: being homosexual, having political opinions, and daring to complain were too many undeserved privileges for a Cuban.
When Ernesto and Carlos went to the police station in Cojimar in November 2021 to report the theft of their phones, the unthinkable happened. The political police took them to separate rooms, beat them, and sexually assaulted them. Ten hours later, Ernesto and Carlos left the police station with their spirits shattered.
They had to flee Cuba without saying goodbye to their families. They packed what they could into their backpacks and embarked on the arduous emigration journey. Their destination was anywhere they could live as a couple. The journey was undeservedly cruel and lasted three years.
Their last encounter with Cuban State Security happened in Lima, Peru, on July 27th, 2024, when they were about to board a flight to Nicaragua to take the “route of the volcanoes” to the United States. Just before boarding, the airline informed them that the Nicaraguan government—a close ally of Cuba—had denied them entry.
The Alliance for Social Action (ALAS) heard their story and had the opportunity to help them on the final leg of their journey to Recife, Brazil. Our friends are still building their home. Like 1.5 million other Cubans who have fled Cuba in the past four years, Ernesto and Carlos embrace their history and hopes: More was lost in Havana, and they continue to say that the future belongs to freedom.
(*) The real names of the protagonists of this story have been undisclosed to protect their identity.
