Jessica Rabbit – Toirac Matosa Cuban trans woman, publicly denounced an act of transphobia committed by the Provincial Directorate of Culture in Guantanamo on social media last Sunday.

Through her personal Instagram account, Toirac expressed her outrage and demanded respect and recognition of her rights as a trans woman. She stated: “They are transphobic because they do not allow trans women, dancers who have been judged in shows, to dance on a float.”

This Cuban woman apologized to her social media followers who had expected to see her dancing on a float at the Guantánamo Carnival, but her participation was blocked by the province’s Ministry of Culture.

Toirac expressed her frustration at the non-compliance with the Family Codeadopted on 22 July 2022, which recognises the rights of the LGBTIQ+ community: “I don’t know where the Family Code is, I don’t know where CENESEX or support for trans women.”

She also stressed that transphobia in Guantánamo goes beyond the cultural sector: “The province of Guantánamo is transphobic,” she warned, stressing the seriousness of the situation.

Toirac, a victim of discrimination by the Cuban regime, told CubaNet that carnival organizers informed her before the parade began that “only natural women would dance on the floats.”

“When I came to dance, they told me that I couldn’t participate because I was a trans woman. Apparently the cultural office had ordered that trans women were not allowed to dance on the floats. I was the only one who wanted to dance, but one of the organizers came to me and said: ‘You’re trans, you’re not allowed to dance,'” she told the news portal.

The platform Ah, Tensaswhich deals with women and gender issues, shared the complaint on the grounds that, in her contribution, Toirac had publicly expressed her dissatisfaction with Cuban policies of inclusion in the civil service, particularly in the province of Guantánamo.

Although the Cuban regime claims to pursue an inclusive policy, these principles are not reflected in reality outside the legal sphere.

In 2023, school authorities banned a young Cuban student at the José Marcelino Maceo Grajales Pedagogical School in Guantánamo from wearing pants – another act of transphobia.

Marion Vargasalmost 17 years old, is a transgender boy who defends his right to wear clothes of the gender with which he identifies. However, the school’s teaching staff has forbidden him to do so because “he was born with female genitalia and therefore the skirt is the only possible option for him,” according to a report by CubaNet.

Recently, the former Minister of Culture and current President House of the Americas, Abel Prieto Jiménezsparked controversy after a homophobic and transphobic tweet.

Although he had deleted the post from his account on social media platform X, Prieto was unaware that his words were not well received by activists and people close to the LGBTIQ+ community, who took screenshots and shared them on other social networks.