"When I was 18, people on the street used to shout, 'Hey, faggot!' '' said Oliver, 28, whose last name, like others in this report, is being withheld for fear of reprisals. "That doesn't happen anymore, unless you are a totally brazen transvestite hustling in really short shorts.''
Havana Boys
Cuban state television is wrapping up its popular telenovela The Hidden Side of the Moon, the
first to feature a sympathetic gay character. That seems like progress
for a country that used to lock up the limp-wristed and send them off to the countryside for some manly hard labor. On the other hand,
the character ends up contracting AIDS and, judging from a video clip, sending his wife into some kind of self-flagellating seizure. Today's Miami Herald has a good article on the show and metrics of tolerance in Havana. The gist:
Comments to "Havana Boys":
Lucky Oliver. I got "Hey, faggot!" just a couple years ago in downtown Boston. Granted, I am one, but it was a little unsettling none the less.
Stevo Darkly | November 6, 2006, 9:13pm | #
About 10 years ago, someone yelled, "Hey faggot!" at me, and I'm not even gay. I was rollerblading, though, so I guess I only have myself to blame.Stevo Darkly | November 6, 2006, 9:39pm | #
Not really, but I do have somewhat delicate-looking hands.I think I got called a faggot several times in elementary school. I'm sure my little feelings were really hurt as I replied "I'm NOT a faggot, you faggot!"
Steven Crane | November 7, 2006, 8:14am | #
shit, "faggot" is a term of endearment in bed for me.even from girls!
then again, if i hear it on the street from someone i deem to have no right to throw it around, there's gonna be a rumble.
Yeah- the US can certainly teach Cuba about not beatin on nancies.