If ever a topic needed clarifying and objective analysis in our understanding of contemporary Cuba (so often the subject of distorting polemic), it is the subject of this invaluable study, which—with its imaginative and astute focus on health—goes to the heart of the often misunderstood but constantly evolving Cuban attitudes toward LGBT issues. As a result, we are given a genuinely fresh look at a much-contested subject, and one that seeks to locate it all within the ideological map of post-1959 Cuba.

Antoni Kapcia, University of Nottingham

With her nuanced and thoughtful insights, extraordinarily well-informed perspective, and eloquent writing style, Kirk’s work will make an invaluable contribution to how scholars, students, and advocates think about issues of gender, sexuality, politics, and the evolution of the Cuban revolution. Emily J. Kirk is a scholar anyone interested in Cuba will want to keep an eye on now and for many years to come.

Marguerite Rose Jiménez, Senior Associate for Cuba, Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)

Emily J. Kirk provides Cuba scholars and others interested in sexuality studies with an artfully researched and argued exploration of when and how state policies and informal though broad-ranging national debates contributed to a dramatic evolution of attitudes about sexual preferences and rights after 1959. Central in the fascinating history of the normalization of sexual diversity she narrates are the framing of discrimination based on sexual preferences as a vital issue of individual and national health, the creation of CENESEX, and its ongoing role in orienting change in sexual diversity policies and real people’s practices, and the uniqueness of Cuba’s policy approach and successes. Kirk’s work shines!

Sheryl L. Lutjens, California State University San Marcos