The new constitution being debated this weekend by Cuban legislators would provide a legal path for same-sex marriage, an important demand of the socialist island's LGBT community, AFP reports from Havana.
The document's Article 68 would define marriage as the "voluntary and consensual union between two people" without specifying their biological sex, the official newspaper Granma said today, reporting on National Assembly debates over the proposed changes in Cuba's basic law.
The current constitution, dating from 1976, limits marriage to the "voluntary union of a man and a woman." The change would "open the door to legalizing homosexual couples for all posterity," Francisco Rodriguez, a journalist and well-known gay activist who is also a member of the governing Communist Party, wrote in his blog.
By incorporating "the principle of non-discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity," the new wording could facilitate other legal and policy changes to protect the island's LGBT community, he said.
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