"For more than 30 years, New York based photographer and painter Mariette Pathy Allen has been documenting transgender culture worldwide; in 2004 she won the Lambda Literary Award for her monograph The Gender Frontier.
In her new publication, TransCuba, Allen focuses on the transgender community of Cuba, especially its growing visibility and acceptance in a country whose government is transitioning into a more relaxed model of communism under Raúl Castro’s presidency. This publication therefore records a cultural watershed within Cuba.
In addition to color photographs and interviews by Allen, the book also includes a contribution from Raúl Castro’s daughter, Mariela Castro, who is the director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education in Havana. In 2005, Castro proposed a project, which became law three years later, to allow transgender individuals to receive sex reassignment surgery and change their legal gender."
In 2023, I interviewed Mariette and asked her about the photos in the book: "Monika: The book includes a contribution from Raúl Castro's daughter, Mariela Castro, the director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education in Havana. In 2005, she proposed a project, which became law three years later, to allow transgender individuals to receive sex reassignment surgery and change their legal gender. Did you meet her in person? The whole cultural change would have not been possible without her support, I guess.
Mariette: The reason I was drawn to Cuba was that I read an article about her in the New York Times, and I was full of admiration for her. I belong to WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health). In 2012 Mariela invited certain members of the group to a conference about sex. Although I wasn’t invited, I went along with that group and stayed after the conference. I spent a lot of time with her in the company of others. We weren’t in a one-on-one situation as she didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak Spanish."
Available via library.duke.edu
Photo via Heroines of My Life
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