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Ignacio Estrada ties the knot with Wendy Iriepa, whose sex-change operation was paid for by the state A gay man and a woman whose sex-change operation was paid for by the state tied the knot this weekend in a first-of-its-kind wedding for Cuba. The bride, Wendy Iriepa, 37, arrived at the wedding hall in Havana in a full white wedding gown, with flowers in her hair and holding a rainbow flag. Inside, a public notary joined the couple in a brief civil ceremony and the newlyweds kissed to cheers from friends and family. “This is the first wedding between a transsexual woman and a gay man,” said the 31-year-old groom, Ignacio Estrada. “We celebrate it at the top of our voices and affirm that this is a step forward for the gay community in Cuba.” Gay marriage is not legal in Cuba and Saturday’s wedding does nothing to change that, since Iriepa – born Alexis – is a woman in the eyes of the law. She underwent sex-change surgery in 2007 as part of a pilot programme that began in earnest the following year and made gender-reassignment procedures part of the island’s universal healthcare system. One other transgender woman married years ago, but Iriepa is the first to do so having benefited from the new policy. In the early years after Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, homosexuality was considered highly suspect in Cuba along with other “alternative” forms of expression, such as US fashion trends and rock’n’roll. Many gay and transsexual people were fired from government jobs, jailed, sent to work camps or went into exile. That climate of persecution was chronicled by the exiled writer Reinaldo Arenas’ autobiographical Before Night Falls, which became a feature film starring Javier Bardem. Today the island and its government are much more tolerant. Cuba’s most prominent gay rights activist is Mariela Castro, Fidel’s niece and the daughter of the president, Raul Castro. She heads the National Sex Education Centre and, at a transgender event on Friday, she spoke of the institution’s work, including anti-homophobia campaigns and pushing for the state to cover sex-change operations. “One of our accomplishments has made it possible for Wendy to get married,” she said. “It seems she found the love of her life and we wish her many congratulations, because all of our work has been for this, the wellbeing and happiness of our sisters.” Castro’s words belied divisions that have taken hold within the gay movement. Some have accused her of monopolising the cause and struck out on their own, organizing a separate, smaller pride march this year and coming to be labelled members of a “dissident” gay community. Estrada was part of that march, and Iriepa left her job at the Sex Education Centre, reportedly after Castro questioned the relationship. Castro said she was not invited to the wedding. Iriepa thanked Castro for wishing them well. “I think this has been politicised by the Cuban government. I have not wanted to make this into a circus or something really political,” she said. “It is the happiest day of my life.” Estrada, in recent comments to the US-based Radio Marti, called the marriage a “birthday present to Fidel Castro to remind him of the atrocities he committed against the Cuban gay community, above all in the 1960s.” Castro, who turned 85 on Saturday, has expressed regret in recent years over the treatment of gay people during that period. Cuba Gay rights guardian.co.uk