Cuban transgender woman becomes 1st to hold elected office
By Andrea Rodriguez, The Associated Press
November 16, 2012http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Cuban+transgender+woman+becomes+hold+elected+office/7562852/story.html
Adela Hernandez, 48, center, poses with her neighbors in the village of Caibarien, Cuba, Friday, Nov. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)HAVANA - Adela Hernandez, a biologically male Cuban who has lived as a female since childhood, served two years in prison in the 1980s for "dangerousness" after her own family denounced her sexuality.
This month she made history by becoming the first known transgender person to hold public office in Cuba, winning election as a delegate to the municipal government of Caibarien in the central province of Villa Clara.
In a country where gays were persecuted for decades and sent to grueling work camps in the countryside, Hernandez, 48, hailed her election as yet another milestone in a gradual shift away from macho attitudes in the years since Fidel Castro himself expressed regret over the treatment of people perceived to be different.
