By Norah Walsh

Faculty Mentor: Ana Chichester

Abstract

During Fidel Castro’s homophobic regime—especially within the UMAPs camps that were utilized to convert Cuban homosexuals through experiments and forced labor—queer writers were forced to the margins of society due to their identity, and they worked to bring their experience to light through literature because to do so in public would open them to possible violence. From pre-Castro voices to more recent works, this thesis looks at the unique perspective of queer writers in Cuba or of Cuban descent to see how their pieces speak on the queer experience through a cultural lens to normalize and characterize queer affection and intimacy and to present erotic content that radically pushes societal bounds. Additionally, while this project primarily analyzes poems, I also use some longer narratives to help inform the author’s themes and purposes. Furthermore, to characterize the queer experience fairly, I seek to include the aspects of struggle, violence, and oppression in addition to the humanizing themes of intimacy that pursue a normalization of sexual acts and queer affection; the purpose of these radical works isn’t just a freedom from oppression but also the right to love out in the open. In conclusion, these are radical literary works that offer a full perspective on the aspect of humanity within the queer experience. The writers, by courageously describing these experiences, participate in a revolution, traversing the barriers of censorship, persecution, and fear in an attempt to change the political, social, and moral opinion of Cuban society.