Today is another February 14, our second in times of pandemic, with our faces still covered. More than a few countries are celebrating the sweetness of Valentines Day, and although Cuba is facing hard times, we have our moments of happiness, as well. Discouragement is something we do not understand
Author: Madeleine Sautié Rodríguez | informacion@granmai.cu
february 14, 2022 09:02:17
Photo: Granma Archives
Today is another February 14, our second in times of pandemic, with our faces still covered and hoping to overcome it.
More than a few countries are celebrating the date and enjoy the sweetness of a day for lovers. Cuba is facing hard times, but also moments of happiness, as we steadily gain control of the virus. Discouragement is something we do not understand. Much less in February when new loves are born, or better, new ways to help love bloom.
The month "chosen" to celebrate love brings Cubans a political process seeking greater equality, inclusion and non-discrimination: a popular consultation on the new Families Code, a document that looks a lot like happiness.
It’s a good feeling to be accepted, not to be viewed askance, to feel that the questions and attitudes of others are genuine, not hostile. But what about the times when this is not so, because of personal choices we make, based on the different ways love comes to us? Or when the way of life that fulfills us differs from the misnamed "traditional family?"
If we want to be fair, Cuba’s existing, authentic diversity demands an updating of established norms. In the 21st century, much suffering is still caused by prejudice and dogmatism. There are those who, wanting to share a life with someone else, have chosen to lie to hide their feelings which are reproached by others; people who have renounced the happiness to which love summons them, to evade scathing disapproval, contempt, exclusion, even by their own relatives. Homes should and must be ruled by love.
Enough of absurd misfortune, of senseless suffering caused by those who believe themselves to be the sole owners of truth and assume the right to judge others.
For the sake of achieving a better society, we must rid ourselves of such backward thinking.
It is not possible to erase centuries of prejudice and discrimination with the stroke of a pen, but this sophism is superfluous; action is demanded. Love, which stirs the senses, accepts no barriers. It cannot live in the shadows. Such a sentiment, capable of transforming the world, cannot be bound.
Love - for whoever offers it and whoever it is destined - must shine in the light of day, with no other demands than those decreed by the heart in which it lives.
This is the goal of the Families Code, among many others, a document which, far from restricting, adds, respects, accepts, enriches and dignifies human beings. A lasting protective mantle for love.