Mariela Castro Leads LGBT March In Havana Recognizing IDAHOT

Mariela Castro, the daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro, on Saturday led a march through the streets of Havana to protest homophobia and transphobia in Cuba.

More than 2,000 people attended the march, which commemorated the May 17^th International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT).

Castro is the director of Cuba's National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX), a state-funded body that promotes LGBT rights, and a member of the Cuban National Assembly.

The demonstrators marched to a pavilion near the Habana Libre hotel where they listened to various speakers.

“Each time more people understand that homosexuality is not a sickness, but phobia … continue to be,” she's quoted as saying by the Washington Blade. “People understand that homosexuality is not dangerous, but homophobia and transphobia are.”

While Castro has previously talked about the need for Cuba to recognize the unions of gay and lesbian couples, she made no mention of the issue on Saturday.

Castro's work as an LGBT rights activist is profiled in the HBO documentary Mariela Castro's March: Cuba's LGBT Revolution.