The 1959 revolution that gave Cuba its independence ushered in a new era of equality, blind to race and to gender - but not to sexual orientation. Military necessity and Stalinist ideology served only to reinforce long-held stereotypes detrimental to the integration of LGBTQIA+ into Cuba’s perpetually reforming social structure.

“Gay Cuba” documents the promising changes that began to take hold in the 1990s. In contrast with the history of random arrests of bar patrons and the forced quarantine of HIV+ citizens, the interviews which form the core of the film show that the changes in party policy and the opening of channels for the discussion and celebration of differences in sexual identity have allowed gay Cubans today to lead much more open lives. In fact, the liberal views expressed in street interviews and the contrast drawn to the repression practices in other parts of Latin America attest to the ability of the on-going revolutionary efforts to make a very real and very positive change. “Gay Cuba” casts a colorful and hopeful light on efforts to reform and to humanize a society often maligned for its calcified rigidity.