Sexual politics in Cuba : machismo, homosexuality, and AIDS

Marvin Leiner

Cuba is the only country in the world that quarantines people who test positive for the HIV virus. In this book, Marvin Leiner analyzes the practice of quarantine in the context of the Cuban Revolution, which has otherwise brought significant advances in social programs, such as free universal education and comprehensive health care for all. He also focuses on efforts by Cuban educators to introduce sex education in the schools and to change sexist and homophobic attitudes, discussing their successes and failures with candor and examining the explicit and implicit linkages between machismo and homophobia. Drawing on interviews, diaries, and techniques of participant observation, Dr. Leiner shows how the HIV sanitorium and earlier oppressive treatment of gays and lesbians serve as a barometer for contemporary Cuban society. Despite the impressive achievements of the Revolution, Cuba remains a society lacking political rights, in particular the right to dissent.