CUBA APPROVES SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IN REFERUNDUM

Congrats Cuba! Cubans have approved a sweeping “family law” code that will allow same-sex couples to marry and adopt as well as redefining rights for children and grandparents, officials said Monday, though opposition in the national referendum was unusually strong on the Communist Party-governed island.

The measure — which contains more than 400 articles — was approved by 66.9% to 33.1%, the president of the National Electoral Council, Alina Balseiro Gutiérrez, told official news media.

The code allows surrogate pregnancies, broader rights for grandparents in regard to grandchildren, and protection of the elderly.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who has promoted the law, acknowledged questions about the measure as he voted on Sunday.

“Most of our people will vote in favor of the code, but it still has issues that our society as a whole does not understand,” he said.

On Monday, he celebrated approval of the measure, tweeting “Love is now the law.”

Passage “is to pay a debt to various generation of Cubans whose domestic plans had been waiting years for this law,” he added. “As of today, we will be a better nation.”

The measure had been approved by Cuba’s Parliament, the National Assembly, after years of debate about such reforms.

A major supporter of the measure was Mariela Castro, director of the National Center for Sex Education, a promoter of rights for same-sex couples, daughter of former President Raul Castro and niece of his brother Fidel.